Jump City High
by FrivolousFlare
Summary: Jump City High's students are split into 4 groups; the populars, the geeks, the normals and the odds. But what happens when these worlds collide? RobStar BBRae CyBee Flinx JeriKole HotGent AquaOC, SpeedyOC, civilian names, no Powers, same look.
1. Prologue: knowing the groups

**I know what you're thinking. 'Fire Star, you're not starting **_**another**_** fic with so many incomplete ones!' Well, I am. Deal with it.**

**This one's another school one. **

**I don't own Teen Titans! I will when there's a season six!**

**READ THE AUTHOR'S NOTE AT THE END PLEASE!**

The Students at Jump City High were split into 4 main groups.

The first group were the 'Populars'. These people consisted of the Jocks, cheerleaders and anyone who can afford plastic surgery. The girls would hang around in tightly nit groups, giggling when ever someone passed them. The 'Populars' picked on anyone else who were poorer than them, uglier than them or just different. Even though they were a spiteful bunch of people, everyone wanted to be them.

The next group were the 'Geeks' or 'Nerds'. These were the straight A students who lived in their basements, playing 'knights and dragons' or watching 'Star Trek' and they actually _enjoyed_ doing there homework.

Then there were the 'Normals'. They were the people who were just _there_ they didn't do anything. They got average grades, had average looks and were basically just average. Sure, you got some straight A 'Normals' but really, they just filled up empty space.

The last group were the 'Odd People'. This small group of students were picked on by everybody. There was always something different about them. Whether it was because they had red eyes or green hair, no-one seemed to like them. Well, apart from each other. There were about 8 or 9 of these people.

However, little do they know that there groups were about to collide…

**Yeah, I know. It's lame but, oh well. Just something I decided to do. If you have any idea for things that could happen then tell me please. Oh, by the way; in this story I'm introducing a character called Topaz. This is merely because I wanted to put Aqualad in this story so he needed a 'to-be-girlfriend' so I created her. Check out my profile for details of her!**

**If you have any surnames for Aqualad (Garth) please let me know!**

**Also, I'm having problems placing Starfire (Kori) in one of the groups. Yeah, I know that she would probably be a popular but her language and her 'need-to-be-kind-to-everyone' might make her a bit of an outcast so, help me please!**

**Review!**


	2. Chapter 1: The New Girl

**Okay, lots of people reviewed this story! Only a few actually told me where they think Starfire/Kori should go. Celeb 132/Emily Snow12 told me twice but, I never said you couldn't. Thanks to those who did! **

**So, here are the civilian names of the Titans for those people who don't know. (I didn't actually know these until reading fanfics like 'Reality check' so, no offence if you already know them!)**

**Robin: **_**Richard Grayson **_**(I don't like the name Dick (No offence if that's your name))**

**Starfire: **_**Kori Anders**_

**Raven: **_**Rachel Roth**_

**Beast Boy: **_**Garfield Logan**_

**Cyborg: **_**Victor Stone**_

**Bumble Bee: **_**Karen Beecher**_

**Aqualad: **_**Garth Trident**_

**Kid Flash: **_**Wally West**_

**Jinx: **_**Jizelle Hexe **_**(It's German for witch!)**

**Hot Spot: **_**Isaiah Crockett**_

**Argent: **_**Toni Monetti**_

**Topaz: **_**Gabrielle Amarilla **_**(Spanish for yellow!)**

**Jericho: **_**Joseph Wilson**_

**Kole: **_**Kole Weathers**_

**Speedy: **_**Roy Harper**_

**Blizzard: **_**Stormi Rose-Wood**_

**I think that's all of them! Oh, wait! Mas y Menos will be making some special appearances! Soooo….**

**Mas: **_**Matthew**_

**Menos: **_**Michael**_

**Ooh! Gizmo, Mammoth, See-more, Kyd Wykkyd and Billy Numerous will be in this as well. See if you can spot them!**

**That's all for now!**

**--**

"Did you hear the news?"

"What news?"

"About the new girl?"

"Well duh! Like, who hasn't?"

"Well, apparently she's starting today!"

"I thought she was starting next week!"

It was June 5th in Jump City. The students in Jump City High were just arriving and finding friends. However, today a new girl was starting JCH. Therefore, today she would be officially classed into one of the social groups. The 'Populars', the 'Geeks', the 'Normals' or the 'Odd People'.

She was the talk of the school. Where ever you went you heard 'did you here?' and 'Guess what!' Most were taking guesses at which group she would be in and who she would make friends with.

"Hey, Cindy, did you hear?" a blonde haired girl asked a brunette.

"About the new girl?"

"Yeah!"

"Of course! Everyone has."

"What new girl?" a girl with black hair joined in the conversation.

"You haven't heard?" the blonde, Kitten, asked in shock.

"I was away last week and I only just arrived. Of course I don't know!"

"Oh yeah, well there's a new girl…-"

"What's her name?"

"Dunno. Anyway, Chelsea told me that she's only got _5_ pairs of shoes!"

"Really?" Mandy, the black-haired girl asked, sounding astounded.

"Apparently! So, anyway…" Kitten rambled on to her friend who was hanging on every word. Kitten suddenly stopped. Mandy and Cindy looked up to see what had distracted her. It was Richard, of course. Richard Grayson was one of the hottest boys in school and Kitten had a huge crush on him, even though she already had a boyfriend.

Her boyfriend's name was Fang. It wasn't his real name, but everyone called him that. He hadn't told anyone his real name and no-one actually knew it either.

"Kitten, Kitten!" Cindy called, trying to get her friend's attention back.

"Hey Richie-poo!" Kitten cooed to Richard. He looked back at her, disgusted, for a second before carrying back on his way.

"Hey Wally!" Richard greeted one of his friends, Wally West, as he sat down next to him **(A/N they're outside and there are benches and stuff) **Wally West was also one of the hottest boys in the school, along with he and Richard's other two friends.

"Hey Rich!" Wally said as he moved up to give Richard more space. Just then Garth Trident came over.

"Hey guys," Garth looked around, "Where's Roy?"

Roy Harper was the fourth member of the 'Hot guys' group.

"I don't know, maybe he's running late?" Richard suggested.

"Or, he's getting mobbed by Daisy." Wally said with a grin. Richard and Garth looked over to where Wally was looking and, sure enough, saw Roy being harassed by a light brown haired girl called Daisy. She was friends with Cindy, Mandy and Kitten. Together they made the 'Hot girls'.

"Guys," Roy called out to them, trying to free his arm from Daisy's grip, "A little help here!"

"I don't know Roy, it could be dangerous." Richard said with fake caution, "You never know, kitten could be hiding around the corner."

"Or Cindy." Wally suggested with a shudder.

"Or Mandy." Garth added.

"So basically…" Richard stretched out his words.

"No." Wally finished for him. The three of them started laughing. At that moment, another girl walked past Roy and Daisy. The latter stopped harassing Roy, who ran to back to his friends. Daisy stopped the other girl in her tracks.

"Why _hello _Jizelle! How _are _you today?" Daisy said in a sickly sweet voice to the girl who had vivid pink hair and matching, cat-like eyes. She was Jizelle Hexe, a member of the 'Odd People' group. The 'Populars', such as Daisy and Kitten, always picked on them. Everyone else ignored them.

"I was fine till I saw _you_." Jizelle growled before stalking off to talk to another pink-haired girl.

"You okay Jizelle?" the other girl asked. Her name was Kole Weathers, a petite girl with strange antennas who was also and 'Odd Person'.

"Yeah, just Daisy being a cow." Jizelle replied. Three other girls came over. One was tall with dark red hair large green eyes that were devoid of any white. Her name was Kori Anders. She was foreign and had a bit of trouble with sayings and such in the English language.

"Greetings friends!" she said brightly as she proceeded to grab Jizelle and Kole in one of her 'Hugs of certain death'.

"Alright Kori, that's enough." an English accent said behind Kori. It belonged to a grey skinned girl with black, spiky hair and red eyes. This was Toni. She was Italian but had lived in England for ten years before moving to America so the accent stuck.

"Yeah, you don't want to strangle them." The other girl spoke in a gloomy monotone. She also had greyish skin but her hair was purple, as were her eyes. She was called Rachel Roth. "Where's Gar?"

"Hey Rach!" a perky voice greeted from behind her. Rachel turned around to see a pair of green eyes in front of her face.

"My name is _Rachel _and _not_ _Rach." _she told the green boy slowly. That's right, you heard me, green. You see, Garfield Logan…was green. He was picked on the most of all the 'Odd People' and the only boy.

"Fine, be all moody. So, did you hear about the new girl?"

"Yeah, what about her?" Kole asked. Garfield looked around before running to a table. They sat on the benches and leaned their heads in closer, apart from Rachel.

"Well, apparently she's starting today!"

There was a silence around the table until it was broken by Jizelle who simply said:

"So?"

"So, if we find her first then we can stop her from going over of the side of evil!" Gar explained, throwing his arms around for emphasis.

"The side of evil?" Kori asked, confused.

"You know…"Gar leant in even closer, as did the others. He spoke in barely a whisper, "The 'Populars'." he pulled back and shuddered.

"They're not…evil…they just…misunderstand us." Rachel countered.

"I agree with Gar on this one." Toni said, "There's nothing that different about us, so why should they treat us like scum?"

"Hello! My skin is _green!_"

"…Apart from that."

"I thought you were saying that they are mean, heartless and have no real reason to make fun of us," Kole started, talking to Gar, "Then you go ahead and give us a reason! You're contradicting yourself!"

Gar opened his mouth and closed it again. The he crossed his arm over his chest and hunched down.

~Inside the school building~

"Hey Karen!" a black haired girl called to a dark skinned girl.

"Yeah Stormi?"

"Did you hear?" Stormi asked excitedly.

"About that new girl starting today?"

"Yeah!"

"Well duh, everyone's heard, isn't that right Isaiah?" Karen asked a Moroccan kid who happened to be passing at that moment.

"What?" he asked, stopping to look at them.

"Have you heard about the new girl starting today?"

"Yeah, hasn't everyone?" and with that he walked off to talk to a blonde boy.

"See," Karen said smugly.

"Whatever."

_**BRING**_

_**BRING**_

"Well, let's get to form." Karen and Stormi set off down a corridor and entered a classroom. They sat together at the back. **(A/N Form is like 'Home room' or whatever it's called. I'm English, so, yeah.)**

"Hello class! As you may or may not know, we have a new student joining us today!" Mrs Periwinkle, a small lady, said as she entered the room. The students leant forwards expectantly. "Sadly, she will not be joining us until second period."

The class groaned.

The rest of form went on and soon it was first period; maths for some, science for others.

Gar and Rachel walked down the corridor to maths while Kori and Jizelle went the other way for science. Kole and Toni also had science but a different form and so came from the other side of the school. As they were walking, Kori and Jizelle heard…giggles. And giggles meant only one thing… The 'Hot Guys' were coming. Jizelle moaned and grabbed Kori's arm then started dragging her down the corridor to try to not be squished by the hoard of girls crowded around four boys.

Luckily, Jizelle and Kori made it to the science block without being squashed by the stampede of girls heading their way. They said a quick 'hi' to Kole and Toni before all four made their way to their seats sat down, waiting for class to start.

At last their teacher, professor Chang, came in. He was quite an old man with a slightly rectangular shaped face and yellow tinted glasses.

"Good morning class." He took a seat in the large chair facing the students at the front. "Today we will be looking at the periodic table and atomic numbers. Who can tell me what the five most reactive elements are?"

Two kids put their hands up. One was a boy with no hair called Givon. Givon Cogsworth was one of the smartest boys in school, and a member of the H.I.V.E five, a gang of bullies that picked on everyone.

The other boy was Seymour, Seymour Iris. He was another of the smartest students and also a member of the H.I.V.E five. He wore glasses that gave him very good eyesight. He often spotted things that other people didn't.

~In Maths~

"Good morning class." Mr Immortus said as he hobbled into the maths room. Mr Immortus was a very old, bald man with a long noise and thick glasses. He used to be a general from the army and came into school with his old uniform and medals. He also insisted that the students call him General Immortus, though none of them did.

"Good morning Mr Immortus." the class droned as he started to hand around worksheets. The students pulled out pens and pencils and began filling in the answers. Although the lesson was fifty five minutes long, it seemed to take much longer. Not only because it was maths and boring, but also because many of the students wanted to get to second period and finally meet the new girl.

Forty five minutes later, Mr Immortus told everyone to stop started going through the answers. He basically asked the question and people put their hands up to answer. Billy Numerous was one of the only people who actually did. Although he was an idiot, he was surprisingly good at maths. He talked in a 'cowboy' accent and was another member of the H.I.V.E five.

At last, maths was over and the students came rushing out. Next was Geography or History, depending on which class.

"I wonder if the new girl will be with us or Geography." Kole wondered aloud as she walked down to History with Jizelle, Gar and Toni. Kori was going the other way with Rachel. The three girls (and one boy) sat down at a table and talked until the teacher arrived. **(A/N they have these round tables that you can get about five on)**

"Good morning my duckies! As I'm sure you all know," Mr Mod said in a cockney accent, "A new girl is starting today. I expect that you will give her a warm welcome. Ah, here she is now!"

The class turned their attention to the door. In the doorway was Mr Fixit, the school nurse, and another figure. She was a girl with wavy brown hair that ended a couple of inches above her shoulders. He head was bent so her hair covered her face.

"Come on love, introduce yourself." Mr Mod told her. She lifted her head slightly, but no enough to see her face.

"My name's Gabby." She mumbled quietly yet sharply, just loud enough for the class to hear.

"Why don't you show us your face?" Mr Fixit suggested quietly. The class could see her visibly take a deep breath. She lifted her head and looked at the class.

Her eyes were bright yellow.

--

**Yeah, I know the ending was anti-climatic. But, oh well. **

**As you see, Kori has been put in the 'Odd group' because I just thought she belonged there (no offence obviously!)**

**Thanks again to everyone who reviewed and an even bigger thank you to everyone who told me where they thought Kori should have been!**

**An E-cookie will go to everyone who can…**

**Spot where Jericho/Joseph was in the story**

**Spot Billy Numerous, Gizmo and See-More**

**Tell me the five most reactive elements**

**Next time I'll tell you something I found quite amusing about Gismo's name. **

**Review please!**


	3. Chapter 2: Vic's return

**Okay, most people got the members of the H.I.V.E five in the last chapter. Here they are in case you didn't…**

**Gizmo:** _**…a boy with no hair called **__**Givon**__**. **__**Givon Cogsworth**__** was one of the smartest boys in school, and a member of the H.I.V.E five**_

**See-more: **_**The other boy was **__**Seymour**__**,**__** Seymour Iris**__**. He was another of the smartest students and also a member of the H.I.V.E five**_

**Billy Numerous: **_**Billy Numerous**__** was one of the only people who actually did. Although he was an idiot, he was surprisingly good at maths. He talked in a 'cowboy' accent and was another member of the H.I.V.E five. **_

**Jericho was here:**

"_**Yeah, hasn't everyone?" and with that he walked off to talk to a **__**blonde boy.**_

**And the five most reactive elements are: **

_**Francium (Fr)**_

_**Caesium (Cs)**_

_**Rubidium (Rb)**_

_**Potassium (K)**_

_**Sodium (Na)**_

**If you think that some of them are wrong then don't be afraid to tell me!**

**I don't own Teen Titans but I do own Topaz/Gabby, Blizzard/Stormi and some of the names!**

**So, on with the sho- oh wait, Givon's name! There was something funny about it I was gonna tell you!**

**In Hebrew (kinds religious for Gizmo init? (I is a chav!)), anyway, it means 'hill' or 'heights'! LOL! It's funny because he's small!**

**I found it hilarious!**

**You might not understand the humour, or you might just not think it's funny. **

**Okay, you can read the chapter now!**

**--**

**Chapter 2: Vic's return**

The class just stared at the girl in front of them, taking in her appearance.

"Right then my ducky, where would you like to sit?" Mr Mod asked Gabby. She looked him blankly.

"Okay, how about you sit…there, next to Toni. Toni, could you raise you hand please?"

Toni raised her hand and smiled warmly at Gabby as she came over. Gabby could feel the many pairs of eyes burning holes into her very being. It was an uncomfortable feeling, to be watched by so many faces, some shocked at her abnormal eyes, other disgusted and a few purposefully turned away, but still watched over their shoulders. She sat down in the chair and looked at the people she was sharing the table with.

Gabby was relieved to find that they didn't look normal. She was worried she would stick out like a sore thumb, which she would, but at least she wouldn't be the only one. One of them, Toni, had red eyes and grey skin. Two had pink hair, one with pink eyes to match, and the last was completely green. Gabby looked around the rest of the room. Everyone else looked 'normal'. Suddenly, she felt someone tap her shoulder.

"Hi! My name's Garfield! Garfield Logan, but you can call me Gar!" the green guy stuck his hand out to Gabby who hesitantly took it.

"My name's Kole!" one of the pink haired girls introduced also shaking Gabby's hand.

"I'm Jizelle!" Gabby shook hands with the other pink haired girl.

"And as you know I'm Toni!" the girl with red eyes said. She was about to say something else but Mr Mod interrupted her.

"You can save the introductions for later. Now you need to read through pages 62-65 of your textbooks and answer the questions. Off you go!" The class grabbed textbooks from the front and took some pens and an exercise book from their bags before getting to work. Mr Mod handed Gabby an exercise book. Throughout the class, Gabby found that lots of small paper pellets seemed to keep hitting her, followed by giggles. She chose to ignore them.

~At break~

**(A/N They have six lessons (periods) everyday. Break is after period 2 and lunch is after period 4)**

Toni, Garfield, Kole and Jizelle took Gabby to the table they usually sat at during break and lunch. It was a bench outside in the courtyard underneath a large oak tree. It provided them with shelter in the rain and was a nice place to cool down in the summer. It was there she met the others in the 'Odd people' group. She sat down looking nervous, waiting for the other 'Odd people' to arrive. Soon Kori and Rachel came from the geography lesson. They were very surprised to see a new girl sitting at their table.

"Greetings new friend! My name is Kori! What is yours?" Kori jumped right into Gabby's face, causing her to leap into the air, her yellow eyes widening in shock. Toni, Jizelle and Rachel all groaned and shook their heads in mild amusement.

"This is Kori, she's foreign." Toni explained to a startled Gabby who merely nodded in response.

"My name is Rachel and that is what I shall be called, and _not _Rach!" she aimed the last part to Garfield who laughed nervously.

"Nice to meet you two!" Gabby said rather weakly to Rachel and Kori, "I'm Gabby."

For the rest of break, the Kori, Rachel, Garfield, Jizelle, Kole and Toni got to know Gabby a bit better and soon made friends with her. When break had ended, she went to Art with Jizelle.

"So, do you like art?" Jizelle asked as they climbed the staircase that led to the art corridor.

"Yeah, it's fun." Gabby replied.

"Art's probably my favourite lesson."

"Better than maths any day."

"Ah, Jizelle. I was beginning to wonder if you were coming." They two girls looked up to see a young woman with kind hazel eyes and honey coloured hair. They were relieved to see she was smiling. "Oh, and you must be Gabby! Is that right?"

"Yes miss."

"I'm Miss Honeysuckle. I'll be teaching you art this year."

Both girls walked inside the class room and sat down at a free table at the back. Miss Honeysuckle walked to the front and clapped her hands loudly, signalling to the class to be quiet. After a minute, everyone calmed down and listened to the teacher.

"Okay class. You're going to do something different today. I want you to collect paper from the front and try to draw something that represents you or your life. If you don't know what to draw then do something important to you, or maybe a hobby." The teacher clapped her hands twice, "Let's draw!"

There was a rush as the students went to the front to get a piece of paper. There was a scrabble to get pieces that were clean and not ripped. A few students stayed back and decided to wait to get theirs. These included Ahriman Darke, a bluish grey boy with red eyes who always wore bat related clothes. Most people made fun of his appearance when he first came but soon stopped after seeing his blank, emotionless face. He never talked. No-one knew if this was because he couldn't or just chose not to. He joined the H.I.V.E five and is still as freaky as ever.

Jizelle and Gabby also waited until the majority of the students had cleared away before grabbing a piece of paper and walking back to their seats. Jizelle started work straight away. She picked up her drawing pencil and began sketching. Gabby stared down at her paper. What to draw…

~Forty Minutes Later~

Jizelle looked down at what she had just drawn. She nodded in approval as she checked each pencil line was exactly right. She had drawn what would have been a four leafed clover. However, three of the leaves were falling off and into a fire beneath. One leaf was still clinging on. Below was a roaring flame. It was so detailed you could feel the heat radiating from it. A small hand was holding the stalk of the clover. It was a young child's hand holding it weakly, as though it would drop the plant at any second.

Bad Luck, that's what it symbolised.

Jizelle looked over a Gabby's work and was very surprised. There was a young woman falling down into a deep abyss. Her eyes were closed and her face was calm. A young girl, who looked no more than 7, was lying at the edge, her arm outstretched to grab the falling woman's hand. Her foot was being held by a small boy. Both had tears in there eyes. On the other side of the abyss was a man standing awfully close to the edge and was being backed towards it by something you couldn't see; only a shadow was visible.

"Wow, dark." Jizelle commented. Gabby looked up at her before dropping her gaze to the picture of the clover.

"Nice picture. It's very detailed."

"Thanks. But what's with your picture?" Jizelle asked her brow furrowing.

"Family…issues…" Gabby replied slowly, as if thinking of a way to say it without giving anything away. Jizelle let it drop…for now…

"Wow, those are very good pictures girls. Very…interesting…" They looked up to see the teacher hovering over them, taking in their work. She glanced at the clock on the wall and gasped. "Oh dear, it's time to clear up! Put your things away girls!" Miss Honeysuckle made her way to the front to announce the end of the lesson.

~Outside the Classroom~

"You've got drama with Rachel now. If you go down this corridor, turn left and then go down the stairs. Turn right and go around through the canteen. Or, you can cut through music."

Jizelle described the way to the drama studio to a very puzzled looking Gabby. "Or, you can follow Garth." She indicated a boy with long black hair and black eyes who was making his way down the corridor. "Just don't talk to him. He's one of the 'Populars'. I'll explain later." Jizelle added on seeing Gabby's confused face. Nevertheless, the brown haired girl followed Garth, but stayed at a distance. She noticed that many of the people seemed to avoid her and walk further away from her.

Eventually, they ended up in front of a wooden door labelled 'Drama Studio'. She looked around and spotted a familiar purple-haired girl.

"Rachel!" she exclaimed as she made her way over.

"Oh, there you are Gabby." Rachel said as she looked at the girl. "Welcome to the worst class to be in for drama." she carried on.

"Why is it the worst class to be in?" Gabby asked, looking around at the various students chatting to each other.

"Well, you've got Kitten and her 'friends' Daisy, Mandy and Cindy. Not good. Then there's most of the H.I.V.E five, a group of bullies. Also there's Wally, Richard, Garth and Roy. Kitten and that lot are always flirting with them. All in all, not a brilliant group."

"Oh. Okay."

At that moment, a blonde girl came over, followed by three other girls.

"Speak of the devil." Rachel muttered as she saw them.

"I'm guessing that they're Kitten and her 'friends'" Gabby said as also spotted the four girls.

"Hello _Gail._ Having a nice day?" Kitten asked in a sickly sweet voice. Mandy, Cindy and Daisy sniggered quietly as Kitten smirked.

"Um, it's _Gabby_, not Gail…" Gabby explained innocently.

"I see you've met Rachel and her 'friends'."

"Yeah…"

"Of course. Well, that's what to be expected I guess."

"Expected?"

"Well of course! You're a freak! Rachel and her 'friends' are the only people who _would_ take someone like you in!" Kitten explained without dropping her disgustingly honeyed voice. Her 'friends' were now cackling and a few other nearby people were laughing slightly.

Gabby only narrowed her eyes. "I'm not a freak! I'm just different! That's all."

"HA! Different? You're a freak and you always will be! Let's go girls." Kitten swaggered off with her 'friends' following. At that moment, their teacher came over.

"Come on class! Today we'll be doing some improvisation work! I want you to get into pairs."

~Twenty Minutes Later~

~In Music~

Stormi and Karen were aimlessly tapping notes on the keyboard, trying to create a decent tune without trying. This, however, was proving to be very challenging.

"Maybe C, D, G, F, G?" Stormi suggested, playing out her new creation with no enthusiasm whatsoever.

"Yeah, I'll write that down." Karen picked up her pen and wrote the five notes onto the music sheet they were meant to fill in. It was then the horrible screeches of the speakers on the wall began to squeak. The whole class turned their attention to the noise.

"_Tomorrow, instead of form, there will be an assembly." _

The class looked at each other.

"An assembly? Strange, we hardly ever have assemblies." Stormi commented. Karen nodded in response.

"I wonder why…" she replied.

~At Lunch~

"So, how was drama?" Toni asked Rachel and Gabby.

"Same old same old." Rachel replied. Toni turned her attention to Gabby who just glared at the floor.

"Did something happen to you?" she asked.

"Kitten called her a freak." Rachel answered for her. The rest of the group looked in shock at Gabby.

"Really?" Kole asked.

"Yeah…" She answered quietly.

"Well, she's Kitten isn't she? She's a cow. Besides, she's probably called all of us a freak at some point." Jizelle said shrugging before turning back to the grey gloop the school called ''food'.

"Yeah, probably," Kole added absentmindedly.

They dropped the topic.

~The Next Day~

"For the last time Cindy, I will NOT go out with you!" Wally said, annoyed, to Kitten's brunette friend.

"B-but Wally…"

"No buts."

Cindy brushed away her fake tears before huffing and walking away. Wally sighed and shook his head. Wouldn't that girl ever learn?

"Having Cindy trouble again?" Richard asked as he came over with Garth and Roy.

"She asked me out AGAIN!" Wally complained to his friends, "Why can't she understand that I don't want to?"

"'Cause…she stupid?" Roy suggested.

"Or just very stubborn." Garth added.

_**BRING**_

_**BRING**_

"Let's get to assembly then," Rich started to walk towards the large building called 'school'. They made their way to a large hall and sat down in four of the seats provided. More students were pouring in and filling the seats. Soon everyone was seated. Mr Mallah, the head teacher, walked on stage. He was a large, beefy man who reminded everyone of a giant gorilla. He spoke in a French accent.

"Settle down students. I have an important announcement. Some of you may remember Victor Stone, a student who came here a year ago. As you know, he was caught in a terrible accident. However, thanks to science, the doctors helped his critical condition."

The students looked at each other. Almost all of them could remember Victor Stone. He was the star rugby player for the school's team. (**A/N Rugby is football in America…I think… Anyway, I call it rugby so that is what it shall be called**).

However, last year he had been caught in a huge traffic accident and was left in a critical condition. They hadn't heard word of him since.

"I must warn you. What you see may shock you." Mr Mallah carried on in his thick accent. Madame Rouge, a Russian woman and deputy head walked on stage and beckoned someone else on stage. Something to the left of the raised area moved. Something silver and shiny came into the light. It was a foot. Next there came a leg, followed by a torso. An arm, a chest, a head. There stood Victor Stone in all of his metal glory. Only a few parts of him remained normal, is forearms and part of his head.

The students gasped at him. They weren't expecting him to be part robot.

~After assembly~

Adonis was the captain of the rugby team. He was of course upset when Victor had been caught in the accident and rushed to hospital, but he soon recovered and started his search for a new player to fill Victor's space.

He had succeeded in finding a new player who was as good as Victor but he would do. As soon as he had heard the words 'Victor Stone' pour out of Mr Mallah's mouth, he had planned to get him back on the team. However, upon seeing him he decided not to. Who would want a freak on their team?

"Hey! Adonis man!" the African-American giant had pushed through the crowds of people who still hadn't gotten over the fact he was half robot.

"What do you want?" he asked, sneering.

"What do you mean?" Vic asked, confused. Didn't Adonis remember him.

"I don't hang out with freaks. I don't know you and you don't know. And don't even _**try **_to get into the rugby team. You've been replaced."

"By who?" Victor asked him, visibly shocked.

"By Goliath. He's just as good as you." And with that, Adonis walked off, leaving behind a hurt Victor.

"WOW! That is so cool!" The half robot looked down to see a green boy looking up at him with stars in his eyes. "I didn't know it was possible! I'm Garfield!" Victor shook his hand in a puzzled way.

"Erm, I'm Vic-"

"You're Victor Stone, the star player for the school's rugby team!"

"Uh, _was _the star player." He corrected.

"What do you mean _was?"_

"I mean I _was_, but not anymore."

"Why don't you ask Adonis? He would make sure you get back on the team!"

"He' the one that replaced me."

"Replace you? Oh, I'm sorry." Garfield's pointed ears drooped slightly.

"Don't be." Victor made to walk away but Garfield stopped him.

"Hey! Why don't you hang out with us?" Victor turned around and looked at him. "Oh come on! We won't mind!"

"If you're sure…"

"GREAT! HEY! RACH!" Rachel walked over to the two of them and glared at Garfield.

"My name is _Rachel_, not _Rach!"_

"Sorry, _Rachel."_

"What do you want?"

"Oh! Vic's gonna sit with us today!"

"…What?"

Garfield looked confused for a moment. "What do you mean 'What?'?"

"Wouldn't he be better of hanging out with his own friends?"

"His friends ditched him so he's gonna stay with us!"

"Fine."

"YAY! Come on Vic!"

--

**Sorry, I couldn't think of a better way to end the chapter. I was sort of running out of ideas. The next chapter will start about a week later. Or something like that. **

**For those people still confused about the rugby/football thing (you know who you are!) Rugby is football in America and football in England is soccer in America. I'm English so yeah. I'll get confused if I start calling things different to what I usually call things. **

**Some time during the story there will be a competition. The winner (or winners.) Will feature in the story.**

**Review please!**


	4. Chapter 3: DISNEY?

**As I told you last time, this is set about eight days or so days afterwards. Vic's basically joined the 'Odd People' group, as has Gabby. I couldn't be bothered to put the details in because I'm lazy like that. **

**Also, if you think that the last chapter was centred too much on Gabby then you should know that that's because she's new and you need to know about her personality more. Sorry if she sounds like a Mary Sue!**

**Did you spot Kyd Wykkyd and Mammoth?**

**Kyd Wykkyd was here: **_**These included **__**Ahriman Darke**__**, a bluish grey boy with red eyes who always wore bat related clothes.**_

**His name means 'devil' or 'evil spirit'. And his surname I got from **_**Sebastian Darke'**_** a series of books by Philip Caveney. They're really good. **

**Mammoth was here: …**_**By Goliath. He's just as good as you." And with that, Adonis walked off, leaving behind a hurt Victor.**_

**That one was hard. I didn't really expect anyone to get it. I'm sure everyone knows who Goliath was. If you don't then you have something wrong with your brain. (No offence if you don't know who he is) I didn't give him a surname because I couldn't be bothered to. If I need to mention his surname then it'll probably be 'Mammoth' unless I think of something else. If you've got any ideas, however, I would be very grateful!**

**Also, the dates in this are going a bit confusing...just go with it!**

**Okay, competition time!**

**Basically, at the end of the chapter, I'll tell you the details. But if you win (or are one of the winners) then you'll feature in this, if you want, or you can make someone up to be in it. You'll only have a small cameo in chapter 19. It'll close when I put chapter 18 up. More details at the bottom. **

**I don't own Teen Titans. Why must I keep being reminded of this cruel fact? **

* * *

"Disney themed Talent show on Friday the thirteenth of December. Entry forms available at reception. Prizes for first, second and third place. So get practising." Karen read off of a bright blue poster that had been put up in the middle of the corridor.

"Talent show? Great," Stormi said, sarcastically.

"It might be fun…to watch." Karen added the last bit when seeing Stormi's face.

"Yeah, maybe…"

~Somewhere else~

"OH MY GOSH! A TALENT SHOW!" Kitten squealed when she had read one of the posters scattered around the school.

"OH MY GOSH! WE SHOULD SO ENTER!" Mandy shrieked much like Kitten.

"OH MY GOSH! WE SHOULD SO HAVE CUTE MATCHING OUTFITS!" Cindy screamed, already picturing tight, lurid pink dresses.

"OH MY GOSH! WE WILL SO WIN!" Daisy screeched. Fang, who was reading the poster over the girl's shoulders, was getting a very bad headache. He clutched his ears in pain.

"You do know that it's a Disney themed show right?" he asked. Kitten reread the poster then thought for a moment.

"We'll think of something. I need to enter this show!" Kitten stomped her foot down and crossed her arms.

"Okay, okay! You can enter the show! I was just saying!"

~Somewhere else~

"Hey look! Some talent show!" Roy pointed to a blue poster. Garth, Richard and Wally crowded around it.

"This is not good," Wally stated, staring in shock at the vibrant piece of paper.

"I know. I mean, Disney? A bit childish isn't it?" Garth asked, looking at Richard.

"Yeah, a bit…" Richard answered.

"No! Not that, _that!_" Wally pointed to the date on the poster. His friends looked at him blankly.

"The date?" Roy suggested.

"NO- I mean yes!"

"What's wrong with Friday?" Richard asked.

"It's not just _any _Friday, it's Friday the thirteenth!"

The others exchanged confused expressions.

"_Friday_ the _thirteenth_!"

More confused faces.

"_It's unlucky!"_

"Ohhh," they chorused.

"It's not that stupid superstitious stuff again, is it?" Garth groaned.

"It's not stupid!" argued Wally. "Remember that time when I stepped on a crack, and my mum broke her back?'

"But she didn't break her back," said Roy, confused.

"Yeah, but she could've!" Wally then turned and ran down the corridor. "I'm going to get my lucky horseshoe! I'll be back in a minute!"

His stunned friends stood in silence for about half a minute.

"So…" Garth started. "We entering?"

"Yeah!"

~Somewhere else~

"Hey! Have you guys seen the posters?" Garfield asked as he sat down. Kori and Toni looked confused.

"The ones about the talent show?" Rachel asked as she also sat down. Garfield nodded. "Yeah, some sort of 'Disney themed talent show'." Rachel explained to Kori and Toni.

"Disney themed?" Toni asked, "Isn't Disney for little kids?"

"It is?" Kori asked, "But I enjoy the watching of videos by Disney!"

"Err…"

"Hey guys!" Kole sat down next to Kori who was looked confused. "Hey Kori! What's up?"

"The sky?"

The group face palmed.

~Somewhere else, yet again~

"Hey! Joseph man!" Isaiah Crocket sat down next to his friend who was reading a book. Joseph out the book down and raised his hand in greeting. He was mute and could therefore only communicate with sign language or writing down what he wanted to say. Isaiah was trying to learn sign language. He could understand some basic sentences, but not much. He was still determined though.

"You heard about the Talent show?"

Joseph nodded.

"You could enter! You know! Play something on the guitar! You're amazing at guitar!"

It was true that Joseph was a very talented guitarist. However, he bit his lip and shook his head.

"Why not?"

Joseph shrugged.

~In Technology~

**(A/N It's period four, the last one before lunch. I sort of skipped half of the day.)**

"I wonder whose idea it was to do a Disney themed talent show," Kole wondered as she doodled absentmindedly on the paper she was supposed to be designing a chair on. The tech teacher had walked off to do something and hadn't come back.

"I don't know," Gabby replied quietly while fiddling with her pencil.

"It'll mainly be songs, won't it? I can't imagine anyone acting or dancing," Kole went on. Gabby looked at her paper and saw she had drawn a guitar.

"Maybe someone could play an instrument? Nice picture."

"Huh? Oh, thanks. Hey! Maybe we should enter it!"

Gabby looked at her like she had grown an extra head.

"Ow!" Kole looked behind her to see Kitten had just dropped a rather heavy looking book on her head. "What was that for?"

"Ow, I'm _ever_ so sorry," she said as she walked off, sounding very fake.

Kole muttered something about how Kitten should crawl into the hole from whence she came and die. **(A/N I say it all the time) **She was pulled out of this happy thought by Gabby.

"Um, you're joking right?" Gabby asked, sounding a bit worried, "About the talent show?"

"Well of course! Like we actually would!"

~At lunch~

"Ugh! I think I've got a bump. What do you think?" Kole asked as she and Gabby walked down the corridor. She ducked her head so Gabby could look at it. "She definitely dropped that book on me on purpose! I _hate _Kitten!"

"Yeah. Me too."

"Do you suppose anyone _doesn't _hate her?"

They laughed a bit as they walked out the door and towards the tree.

"Don't do it Gar, you'll only make a fool of yourself!" Toni was saying as Kole and Gabby joined them.

"What's Gar going to do?" Kole asked. Toni, Kori and Rachel exchanged worried looks.

"I am going to perform in the talent show!" he said proudly, puffing out his chest. Kole raised an eyebrow.

"On your own?"

"No! Duh! I'm doing it with Vic!" Gar jabbed a thumb in the direction of Victor who just happened to arrive at that point.

"Huh? I'm doing the what now?" he asked, confused.

"You're gonna enter the talent show with me!" Gar jumped up and down. Victor didn't look amused.

"No way grass stain. I am _not_ embarrassing myself in front of the school."

"But-"

"No buts."

"But please!"

"What did I just say?"

"Fine…_Please?_"

"No!"

"Please!"

"NO!"

"Aw! Come on! I said _please_!"

"And I said _no_!"

"Fine. I'll just keep saying please until you agree to do it. So…please?"

"NO!"

"PLEASE!"

"NO!"

This went on for quite sometime. During fifth period Gar kept giving Victor notes which all said the same thing: _'Please?' _The teacher was irritated for the entire lesson and gave them extra homework, much to the rest of the class' annoyance. When the class ended, everyone grabbed their stuff and rushed out, and Gar had gotten back to pestering Victor.

Finally Victor cracked.

"Okay! Fine! I'll do it! Just don't make me do anything stupid!"

Gar smiled and tried to pat Victor on the shoulder. **(A/N Keyword: tried) **

"Don't worry Vic, I've got it all planned out…"

~After School~

Kole, Jizelle, Gabby, Kori, Rachel and Toni were sitting outside the school building, just talking and laughing, when they noticed four figures coming over.

"Oh great…_them_," Jizelle muttered to herself. Out of all of them, Jizelle probably hated Kitten's gang the most.

"Listen freaks," Kitten started as she glared at them. Daisy, Cindy and Mandy stood behind her, with their arms crossed, looking 'menacing'. "I'm-"

"We're," Daisy corrected, interrupting Kitten. Kitten stared at her in shock for a few seconds. No-one interrupted Kitten. She let it drop.

"_We're_ going to enter the talent show and we will win! If you even _dare_ to try and enter as well then I'll…I'll do…something…bad."

"Ooh, scary," Rachel said sarcastically. "I'm quivering with fear."

"Why don't you want us to enter anyway? Scared we'll beat you?" Toni asked. Kitten growled.

"Pfft, no. I just don't want the people suffering from watching you. So don't even try. You'll be saving yourself from embarrassment as well."

And with that, Kitten and her posse walked off. Jizelle glared at their retreating backs.

"She thinks that she can just come over here and tell us what and what not to do."

"Walks around like she owns the place…" Toni added.

"Yeah, I'm really inclined to enter just in spite of her."

"Yeah!"

"Yeah!" Gabby nodded, agreeing with Toni and Jizelle.

"Yeah!" Kole also said, punching the air with her fist to show her enthusiasm.

"Yes indeed!" Kori clasped her hands together and smiled in delight.

Rachel sighed.

"Why not?"

The girls carried on talking about the show when Jizelle stopped.

"I left my history book in my locker! I'll be back in a second!"

She turned around and walked back towards the school building, bumping into Wally West along the way. She sent him an annoyed look and carried on down the corridor. Eventually she came to her locker. She opened it and gasped.

Inside was a red rose.

**

* * *

**

I thought of that last bit at the last minute. I remember something that will happen in a later chapter and so I needed to put this in.

**Okay, on to the competition. I need you to give me suggestions of songs that they can sing. I need one for…**

**Jizelle's group**

**Kitten's group **

**Richard's group **

**Gar and Vic**

**And any other one's if you can think of any other characters that might do it. (E.g. the H.I.V.E five)**

**If the song you suggested is going to be used then I will send you a form which you must fill in. Basically, if you win, you are going to star in the show and will be allowed to sing any song you want! (As long as none of the main characters are doing it). Or you can play an instrument if you do it with a friend or decide to be in a band. (Tell me if you are picked then describe the band members)**

**Okay, also, I don't mind songs from 'High School Musical' and such but I would prefer songs from the classic Disney movies such as 'The Lion King' and 'Hercules' Also, no pop versions! Like 'If I Never Knew You' the Cheetah Girls version *shudders***

**Basic points again in case you need telling twice!**

**The song **_**must**_** be in a Disney movie!**

**Preferably classics, but songs from 'High School Musical' are accepted!**

**No Pop versions!**

**If you win then you MUST send me back the details of whoever you want to perform in the show! (If you don't want yourself then you can make up someone)**

**If you win then you can't be in the Odd people's group. If you want to be in the Populars then that's fine bit I will make you snobby and stuck up. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!**

**If you win and want to be in a band then send me the details for all of the members of the band!**

**First come, first serve basis. If you win and want to do…say…'Colours of the Wind' from 'Pocahontas' but someone else has already said they want to do it then I will ask you to choose another one.**

**If you don't want to then tell me!**

**The competition ends when I upload chapter 18! That is when I will put up the winners. Shortly after the uploading of chapter 18 I will PM the winners. **

**Okay, if you have any questions then just ask!**

**Also, as I said before, the dates in this might be a bit confusing...just go with it!**

**Review please!**


	5. Chapter 4: Da project part 1

***Hiding in closet* I'm only coming out if you guys put down your pitchforks and such, ready to stab me to death for not updating in ages…**

**Robin: *Walks in* What the…?**

**Me: *Still in closet* Quick! Do the disclaimer so they can read the story and not murder me!**

**Robin:…Why?**

**Me: Because if you don't then so help me I will do something…bad…**

**Robin: Pfft, you can't even make a threat.**

**Starfire: *Comes in* Robin, maybe you should to this disclaimer, just to partake in the Earth tradition of being 'nice'.**

**Robin:…Fine…'Fire Star Studios'(or Flare as she prefers to be called)'Doesn't own Teen Titans…just two OCs…'**

**Me: Now, start the story!**

**Robin: Uhh…how?**

**Me: Like this!!!**

**

* * *

**

Jizelle sat on her bed, staring at the scarlet flower in her hands. Elsewhere in her room, on her desk, was a vase containing another rose. The first had been found in her locker just last week, on Thursday. The second, the one she was currently rolling between her fingers, had been discovered in the same place on Friday. Now, it was Monday morning, and she was beginning to wonder if she'd receive another.

"Jeez, Jizelle!" she jumped up, almost dropping the rose in the process. However, she quickly caught it again and hugged it to her chest, but almost immediately pulled away from it and dumped it in the vase. She groaned and carried on talking to herself, "Ugh, you're acting like some sort of lovesick puppy! You don't even know who gave them to you, let alone why! I mean, this could be some sort of prank, or joke!" She shuddered and added, "or Seymour trying to make a move on me. I swear that guy doesn't understand the word 'no'…"

"Jizelle, honey, come down and get your breakfast! You'll be late for school otherwise!" Morgana, her mother, called from the kitchen. Jizelle glanced back at the roses, which seemed to be watching back, and scurried out of the room, shouting, "Coming!" as she jumped down the stairs.

Morgana smiled warmly at her daughter, holding a plate of toast and jam. "Morning dear, anything nice today?"

Jizelle took the plate and sat down. Although Morgana's over motherly behaviour was exceedingly embarrassing, she was glad her mother cared so deeply for her, unlike her father. "Thanks mum," she said, picking up a slice of toast from her plate as her mother placed a glass of orange juice on the table.

After breakfast, Jizelle grabbed her dark purple school bag and marched out of the door and towards the bus stop, where she waited for Gar, Toni, Kori and Vic. Kori's arrival was soon known by the loud voices echoing from a just-opened door down the street from the bus stop. The voices were Kori and her sister, Komi, arguing about something, as usual.

"But sister!" Kori said, exasperated.

"What? Do you want me to get detention?" Komi asked with a smile that could definitely not be trusted. She had gotten a much better grasp on the English language than Kori and, despite her purple eyes, was one of the most popular girls in the school. She was two years older than Kori and in her last year of school.

"No…"

"Then why are you making such a fuss?"

"Because it is wrong!"

"Ugh, whatever. Now, be a dear and go and play with your little witch friend over there…" the elder of the two sisters waved a hand vaguely in Jizelle's direction and went to talk to one of her friends.

"She is not a witch!" Kori shouted, but Komi wasn't listening. The redhead sighed and walked to Jizelle. "Oh, I have been doing the worrying for Komi lately. She has been getting other people to do work for her and has been persuading them in unsavoury ways!" Kori rambled worriedly. Jizelle rolled her eyes.

"Hey, you've really got to stop being so nice. It's not like she'd ever take you seriously, no offence."

"Oh, no offence has been taken, Jizelle. But she is my sister and I can not help but worry for her."

"Kori, look. She's not gonna listen to you. If she wants to slag off and get good scores in a…an unsavoury and dishonest way then go ahead and let her. She'll get her punishment later in life when she can't get a job and ends up in deep debt."

This only made Kori more worried. "Oh, but it would be most terrible if that happened to Komi! I must tell her this immediately to make her change her ways!" However, before she could run off to warn her sister of this amateur prediction, Jizelle grabbed her wrist.

"No, don't. She deserves it, after how badly she treats you."

"Oh, but she does not mean to! I'm sure she is kind and nice inside!"

Jizelle raised an eyebrow, unconvinced. Kori faltered.

"Maybe…you are right…"

Jizelle smiled and nodded when Gar and Vic arrived. "Hey y'all!" The larger of the two greeted. "How're ya doing?"

"As good as I was yesterday," Jizelle responded.

"I am afraid that I am not doing the well. I have been engaging in another argument with my sister," Kori said, sadly.

"Aw, but you're always fighting with Komi!" Gar moaned. "Can't you guys just make peace or something?"

"Garfield," Jizelle snapped, "This matter is getting serious."

"You mean it wasn't serous before?" Toni asked as she, too, came to the bus stop.

"Well, it's escalating rapidly!"

"Friends, please may we do the dropping of the subject," Kori pleaded quietly. She hated her friends worrying over her.

"Kori…" Toni started.

Kori cut her off. "Please friends, I shall try to do the making of peace with Komi. But she is my sister. It is right for us to be at constant war with each other, correct?"

"Uh…well…I suppose…"

Toni, Jizelle and the two boys glanced at each other. It was common knowledge that siblings fought, but all four of them were only children; they had no brother or sisters to fight with. So, they decided to drop the matter.

The bus soon arrived and the five of them climbed on. The seats were done in pairs, apart from the back which had five seats. This was where they usually sat but some other people where sitting there. They glanced at each other, wondering where else to sit.

"I suppose we could sit in the other seats…" Toni suggested, though she knew someone was going to be on their own.

Jizelle also saw the problem and volunteered herself to be the loner. After a lot of gratitude later, Toni and Kori where sitting next to Gar and Vic, with only the aisle separating them, and Jizelle was in front of the boys. She growled when she saw that Roy and Garth where sitting in front of her. Now, her stop was the last before school so the only other person who needed to get on was Wally.

However, Richard didn't seem to have gotten on the bus that day, and so the only two seats remaining where next to some random, chatty girl called Fern and next to Jizelle. Unfortunately for her, Wally chose the latter.

He turned to her and gave her a warm, friendly smile. For a second, her heart stopped. Wally West, Mr Track-Star-Popular-head, was smiling at _her. _And it was a pleasant smile too, not one of those stuck-up, _'I'm so much better than you_' smirks. She almost smiled back, _almost_, but instead went for crossing her arms and huffing, doing her best to show annoyance.

His eyes seemed to dull slightly, and his mouth dropped. He looked…hurt…like a kicked puppy. Jizelle blinked and he was grinning again, listening to something Roy had just said. Had she imagined the look? No, she hadn't. He had looked upset.

Tied up in her thoughts, she almost didn't hear Gar say coyly, "So, how's it there next to Mr West?"

Tripping up over her knots of thought, she almost stammered. Luckily, for her, she didn't and was able to answer, quite clearly, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well…it's just you two look so _cosy_ next to each other."

Out of the corner of her eye, Jizelle swore she saw Wally blush slightly. She growled at her green friend. "_He_ may look cosy; _I_ most certainly _aren't_…"

Gar looked like he was going to say something else but, thankfully for Jizelle, Vic interrupted him. "Have you two done the Geography homework?"

"Yup!" Jizelle held up a piece of paper, half filled with neat, cursive handwriting. "I did it on Russia."

"Russia? Why? It's so cold!" Vic said, pretending to shiver. "I did mine on Ghana."

"Really? But it's so hot there!"

Gar's eyes flickered between the two, completely lost. "What are you guys talking about?" He finally asked, exasperated.

"The geography homework," Vic replied, trying not to roll his eyes at his friend's confusedness.

"Ah! I forgot! Can I copy yours?"

Trying not to laugh, Vic answered, "Nope!"

"Aw, come on, dude! Why not?"

"Because the homework was to write about a country you'd like to go to and why," Jizelle told him, sporting a sly, catlike smile.

"Oh…ah! When do we have geography?"

"Well, you and I have it third; Vic has it first, with Kori and Rachel."

"Oh, that's okay then…which country should I do it on?"

Jizelle and Vic looked regarded him and started thinking up places Gar might like to go. "Do you like hot or cold places?" The former asked.

"Inland or by the coast?"

"Leisure reasons or family reasons?"

"Near here or far away?"

Gar's ear's drooped as he tried to stammer answers to the question bombardment. "Uh, well, I like warm places, by the sea…leisure, dunno…"

"What about…Hawaii?"

"Maybe…"

"Or Spain?"

"Uhh…"

"The Bahamas?"

"Um…"

Toni growled at the girl in front of her and Kori. Kitten and Cindy sneered back.

"Look, it's the foreign freaks!" the former said nastily while Cindy cackled.

"Look, it's the racist cows," Toni shot back. Kori just stayed quiet, looking between them. She hated it when her friends fought with other people, whoever they were and for whatever reasons. It made her feel uncomfortable and almost helpless.

Kitten seethed, pointing a perfectly manicured nail at the Italian girl. "Listen here, if you ever _dare_ to call me something like that again then I will make you pay…"

Toni just gave her a 'Bring it on look' and went back to talking to Kori. "Did ya read the newspaper this morning? Batman's done it again!"

About 15 minutes later, the bust arrived at school. The students piled off and went to talk to their friends.

About five minutes after that, a long, black limo pulled up in front of the school. Excited kids crowded around it, curious as to who was inside it. Well, all apart from the 'Odds' who were in a tight knot, talking, and Wally, Roy and Garth, who were standing around, smirking as usual. They knew exactly who was inside the limo.

What they already knew was confirmed as Richard Grayson, in all his rich glory, stepped out and flashed the crowd a heart stopping smile. He strutted over to his friends.

"Hey guys. Missed the bus so Bruce offered me a lift," he explained. The other three nodded and they started talking about…whatever they felt like talking about.

Jizelle glared at them. "Pfft, can you believe it? He thinks he's so great that it doesn't matter to him that he missed the bus!" she said, crossing her arms and turning away, too late to notice Wally glance over his shoulder at her. This, however, didn't go unnoticed by Gar who grinned, but said nothing.

A bell echoed out of the school building, signalling for all of the students to go inside. The teenagers trudged in and made their way to their form rooms.

After form, was first period, either History or Geography. Vic went to Geography while Kole, who was also in Mr Sei's form, went to History.

~At Geography~

Vic soon found Kori and Rachel in the geography classroom and joined them at their table.

"Hey guys!" He greeted, getting his homework out of his bag. "What countries did you guys do for the homework?"

"I have written about the wondrous island of Tamaran!" Kori gushed, thrusting five pieces of stapled A4 paper at him. "However, I am the unsure of whether or not I have done enough…"

"Kori, you've done plenty," Rachel droned. "You only had to do half a page."

"But Rachel, you have done two pieces!" She pointed at the paper in front of Rachel.

"And?"

"What country did you do?" Vic intervened. "I did Ghana."

"England. I'm guessing Ghana is your country of origin?"

"Yup! Mum said that we've got some distant relatives over there!"

"Nice…"

Just then, Mr Mod walked in. "Alright my duckies, as I call out your name in the register, I want you to come up with your homework! Kori!"

Kori got up and handed the teacher her work. He looked at it in slight astonishment for a second before nodding and calling out the next name. "Karen!"

Kori went back to her seat and Karen Beecher stood up and put her homework on the front desk.

"Good, thank you. Freddie!"

A stout, blonde boy with brown eyes marched to the front and gave in his homework. Mr Mod went through the register, telling off a couple of students who had 'left it at home'. When the last person, a girl called Alicia, had been called, Mr Mod picked up the pile of paper on his desk and put it to one side.

"Okay class," The teacher stood up and addressed them all, "For the next two lessons, you are going to do a project in pairs." The class immediately started talking animatedly about who they wanted to go with. Mr Mod whacked his cane against the front table and they instantly stopped. "That is not an excuse to start talking, my duckies. Anyway, you are to do a project on a country and then present it to the class. That is why I set you the last homework," he gestured the wad of paper on his desk. "So, any questions?"

"Can we go in fours?" A blonde girl asked, putting her hand up.

"No, Ellie, pairs only."

Ellie frowned and grumbled with her friends.

"Can we work on our own?" Karen enquired.

"No, pairs only."

Karen sighed and crossed her arms. She was a very independent person and preferred doing things on her own.

"Any _other_ questions?"

No one else had anything to ask and so he ordered them to pair up. Vic, Kori and Rachel looked at each other. None of them really wanted to work with anyone from the rest of the class. However, neither did they want to see one of their friends being forced to work with someone else in the class.

"Don't worry guys, I'll go work with someone else." Vic said after the few second silence as he stood up. Rachel and Kori looked at him sadly. "I'll be okay," he assured before looking around for someone who wasn't in a pair. Almost everyone was standing close to someone else, already chatting about what country they should do. The only person not doing this was sitting back in her chair, not making an effort to find someone to work with.

Karen Beecher.

Summoning every last ounce of courage, Vic walked over to her. She turned her head to look at him and raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Well, I need someone to work with…" he explained, hiding his nervousness. Karen glanced around the room and sighed. "Fine." She finally answered. Vic mentally grinned and sighed in relief that she had accepted and without a stinging comment or insult.

"Okay, uh…what country do you want to do?"

"Zimbabwe." She answered without hesitation. "What about you?"

"Ghana."

They were both quiet for a minute as they tried to work out the situation. At least they were both in the same continent…

"Why don't we get an atlas and try to find a country in the middle?" Karen suggested. Vic blinked and stared at her in amazement. She wasn't acting the least bit prejudice against him.

"Uh…yeah! Okay!" He forced out when he realised he had been gaping at her like a fish. She chuckled slightly and walked over to the front. She grabbed a large, thick, hardback book and started flicking through it as she went back to her table. Finding Africa, she laid it down.

"Okay, this is where Zimbabwe is," She pointed to an area near the bottom, "And this is where Ghana is," this time she pointed to a section on the underside of the bobble on the left hand side. "They're quite far apart…what about the Congo?"

"Nah…"

"Uhh…Cameroon?"

Vic thought about it for a moment but shook his head.

"Hmm…Uganda?

"Um…yeah, let's do that!"

After a few minutes of flicking through books for information on Uganda, Mr Mod whacked his cane on the front table, again, to get their attention. "Alright my hard-working duckies, for the rest of the lesson I want to let you look things up in the computer room! Make sure you've got everything you'll need and follow me!"

The class, excited, gathered up some pens, books and paper and followed their teacher out of the classroom, talking all the way.

"I do hope Vic is happy with his partner," Kori said to Rachel, sounding very worried.

Rachel glanced over at Victor who looked cheerful enough next to Karen. "I think he's alright Kori…" she said, gesturing them with her head. Kori's face lit up with her usual bright, cheery, carefree smile.

"It seems that he has made a new friend! Perhaps we should invite her to sit with us!"

Rachel resisted the urge to roll her eyes at Kori's naïve nature. "I don't think so Kori. She's probably got her own friends to sit with…"

Kori's shoulders visibly fell in disappointment at this. She was all for making new friends and forgiving people who had ever been harsh or mean to her. The others weren't so keen.

When they finally got to the computer room, there was a small commotion as pairs fought pairs over the best computers. There were even squabbles between partners over what website to go on and what to type into Google. Vic and Karen were one of those pairs.

"We need to find a map!" The former argued, pulling the keyboard towards him.

"No, we need to find out about it first!" The latter pulled it back towards her, eyes daring him to say something else.

Vic took the dare and said, "What about the map? We can't do the project without a map!"

"We can draw one!"

"But then it won't be accurate!"

"Who cares? All we need to show is vaguely whereabouts it is!"

"But with a map, we can show all of the neighbouring countries!"

"You can do that with a sketch!"

"Exactly to scale?"

"Gah! Who cares about the scale! As long as it shows vaguely where it is and what shape it is we'll be fine! Why waste time trying to find a map?"

This went on for some time. Rachel, who was working a few computers down, had noticed the start of the argument. 20 minutes later, she looked back at them and sweat dropped when she saw they were _still_ bickering.

At the end of the lesson, they headed back to the class room and were told by Mr Mod that they had to set homework for themselves. Whether it was doing some research on their country or writing a section on physical features or communities or whatever.

There was no putting this off as he insisted on checking everyone's planner to see what they had written down for themselves, and also wanted to see their homework the next day.

Grumbling, the students set themselves something to do and, having showed Mr Mod what this was, walked off to English.

~Break~

Gabby growled as yet _another_ angry looking girl swaggered off after telling her to 'stay away from Garth, he's mine! Much too good for the likes of a freak like _you_.' Gar, Jizelle, Kori and Kole ran over to her, looking very apologetic.

"Sorry about that, Gabby," Gar said, "We didn't know Garth would sit next to you, no offence."

"It's okay," Gabby replied, "It's not like it'll happen again. He only sat next to me because the only other free seat was next to Mandy…"

"How'd you know that?" Jizelle enquired, sounding ever so slightly suspicious.

Gabby just shrugged and answered, "Because he told me so."

Gar grinned at her and, waggling his eyebrows, asked cheekily, "Getting all 'buddy-buddy' with Garth Trident, are we?"

"No! He just sat there because-"

"Ah, don't worry _mademoiselle_, your secret is safe with me! As is Jizelle's," Gar assured, putting on an obviously fake French accent. Jizelle glared at him.

"What do you mean?" she snarled dangerously.

The green boy was unfazed. "You know! You and Wally over there!" He pointed to the red head that just happened to be near them, standing outside a locker. He had heard his name and looked up, startled, like a little boy caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

He raised his hand in greeting and said a weak, "Uh, hey!" before darting off down the corridor.

The group stared at him as he left, confused as to why he had talked to them. Sure, it had only been one word…but it was still very surprising. Kole was the one to break the silence.

"Is it me, or did he look like he had been doing something he shouldn't have been?"

"True, Wally did look the guilty."

"Mmm…" Jizelle agreed, staring at where he had been. She noticed it was just outside her locker.

"C'mon guys, we'd better go find the others," Gar said, turning to walk away.

"You guys go on; I need to go get something…" Jizelle waved them off. They glanced at each other, shrugged, and started walking off.

"We'll see ya in a bit then," Kole called to her, to which she just nodded. She went over to her locker and put her code in. With trembling hands, she opened the door. Another rose was lying on top of her Geography book. Freshly cut, thorn-less, scarlet red. Eyes narrowing with confusion and suspicion, she pushed the rose to the back where it was blocked from view. She got her geography book and closed her locker again, heading in the direction her friends had just gone in. Her head was bubbling over with questions. Who was leaving her these roses? Why? Was it a joke or prank? Or did she have a secret admirer? And why was Wally West outside her locker? Did he put the rose there? It sure looked that way, but Jizelle knew she was being silly. _'Why would Wally West give me a rose? Let alone three…but still…'_

~Next lesson, Geography~

Toni, Gar, Jizelle, Kole and Gabby sat down at their usual table, making fun of a rumour going around about Billy Numerous having a twin or clone.

"I don't know where they got that idea from!" Toni was saying, shaking her head. "I mean, if he had a twin, he would go here too."

"But it is kind of weird that someone saw him in Fuchsia village on the same day someone else saw him in Steel city…" Kole contradicted.

"Well, he could have gone to Fuchsia in the morning and then gone to Steel in the afternoon," Jizelle said, rolling her eyes.

"But he said he hadn't gone to Fuchsia that day! How do you explain that?" Gar challenged.

"Someone who looked like him could've been in Fuchsia," Gabby suggested. "It's happened before! I mean, people having 'clones' in other cities…"

"That's true…" Toni admitted. "Apparently someone saw Mr Azire driving a taxi in Steel…But he doesn't drive taxis so it must've been someone who looked like him."

"Yeah, apparently everyone's got a double or someone who looks a lot like them, somewhere in the world…" Kole said. They all looked at each other and burst out laughing at the idea of someone else looking like them.

Just then, Mr Mod came in. Just as with his first class, he collected all of their homework while doing the register. He explained the country project to them and answered the same, silly questions.

When it came to going into pairs, the five of them looked at each other. Jizelle opened her mouth to volunteer herself to go with someone else but Toni cut her off. "No, I will. You volunteered on the bus, I'm volunteering this time."

"But-"

"No." And with that, she got up and walked purposefully towards the huddle of students, buzzing with excitement. However, before she even got there, she tripped over a knocked over chair and went crashing into someone.

"Aah!"

"Oomph!"

"Ah, sorry about that. Lost my footing…"

Isaiah regarded the girl who had just fallen on top of her. As unnatural as her appearance was, he couldn't help but think that she was indeed quite pretty. "Uh, it's okay…"

Toni pushed herself off of him and brushed dust off of her skirt. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Isaiah answered, getting up himself. Looking around, he saw everyone else already had a pair. "Uh, actually, would you, um, like to work with, err, me…?" he asked nervously.

Toni was astonished that someone had asked her instead of her asking someone else. She was relieved, yes, but still very surprised. "Sure! Um, well, if that's okay with you of course…"

"Yeah, it's okay…"

They stood there for a few seconds in an awkward silence, both avoiding each other's eyes.

However, this quiet, uncomfortable feeling could not last as the time came to choose the country.

"I think we should do it on Morocco," Isaiah said, tapping his pencil on the desk.

"No, I think Italy would be a better choice?"

"No, Morocco!"

"Italy!"

"Morocco!"

"Italy!"

Stormi and Joseph, who were working on the same table, rolled their eyes at their argument. This did not go unnoticed by Isaiah who demanded, "What are you rolling your eyes at?"

"You," Stormi answered plainly. "If you're gonna spend all lesson arguing about which country to do then I really don't see how you've going to complete the whole project in two lessons…"

"Yeah, well, what country are you doing?"

"Laos."

Joseph nodded and pointed to a small country above Thailand. Isaiah frowned and said, "Whatever man, whatever…Why don't we do a country in between like…Tunisia?"

"Well, what's wrong with Sicily?" Toni enquired.

"Nothing, it's just that Tunisia is in between the two so…"

"So is Sicily!"

"Yeah, but…"

"But what?"

"Uh…"

Meanwhile, Gar, Jizelle, Kole and Gabby were looking at Toni with amusement and sympathy.

"She always did get into arguments easily…" Jizelle said labelling India on the map she had drawn while Kole looked up some of the geographical positioning facts about it. Gar and Gabby were doing Spain.

"Yeah, not so much anymore, but you remember when we first met her?" Kole asked. "You could hardly say one statement without her coming up with some way of contradicting you."

"Well, I think it's a way of defence."

"Really?" Gar, Kole and Gabby looked at Jizelle curiously, "How come?"

"Well, she doesn't like being put down so I guess it's her way of making sure she's heard and not being made to look stupid and stuff…but that's only a guess…"

They all looked back down at their work, unsure of whether or not to say anything. Besides, what could you say to that?

After a while, Mr Mod took them up to the computer room to get more information. By this time, Toni and Isaiah had finally found a country they could both agree on, by opening it to a random page and having Isaiah point to a country with his eyes closed. He had picked New Zealand.

Now using technology, they seemed to get along. Isaiah would look up facts and Toni would write them down.

However, upon arriving back at the classroom, the friction restarted. This time, it was about the self set homework. Toni wanted to do a page on the mountain range. This was what Isaiah also wanted to do. So, naturally, another fight broke out.

"Why don't you do the lakes or something?"

"Because I want to do the mountains! Why don't you do something on, I dunno, the shops?"

"THE SHOPS? Why? Because I'm a girl?"

"Well, yeah…"

"Ugh! Sure, I like to do a bit of shopping, but it's got nothing to do with New Zealand!"

"Well, sorry!"

"You'd better be!"

Finally, Mr Mod marched up to them and helped them sort out their problems by asking them why both wanted so badly to do the mountains. Neither of them had a reason.

~Lunch~

After Technology, Toni was still sore about her argument.

"Jeez, Toni!" Jizelle was saying, "Can't you just drop it?"

"No," Toni replied stiffly, glaring holes into whatever was in front of her.

"Why?" Gar asked. He had found the whole affair hilarious, but didn't dare laugh in fear of his health.

"Just…because!" Toni growled loudly, sounding very ticked off. The others knew better than to agitate her even more; she was in one of her moods. The best thing to do was to drop the matter and hope she had forgotten about it until tomorrow.

Kole and Gabby soon arrived from their Tech class. They could tell from Toni's expression that she was in a foul temper and so decided not to say anything about the Geography lesson.

"Uhh, so…" Kole said, in an attempt to keep the conversation going.

"So," Gar repeated.

"So," Jizelle also said.

Gabby shrugged. "So."

Kori looked confused. "Please, why are we all saying 'so'? Is it a tradition to do so every June 17th?"

The rest of them laughed as they went outside and seated themselves at their usual table. Vic and Rachel were already there, talking about the talent show.

"I'm just worried about what he's gonna make me do!" Vic complained. Rachel gave him an amused look and smiled slightly when the others came.

"Why don't you ask him yourself?" she asked.

"Huh?" Vic looked up and finally saw the others. "Oh, uh…don't worry…"

~After school~

Jizelle looked up and down the empty corridor as she walked purposefully towards her locker. Glancing around again, she put in the code, opened it and shoved her books in. She took in a deep breath and reached for the rose that was still at the very back of the small compartment.

Jizelle quickly, but carefully, put the rose in her bag, shut her locker and started walking away. Getting onto the bus, she found that Toni, Kori, Gar and Vic had secured the back row and silently cheered for joy.

"Hey guys," she greeted, sitting down between Toni and the window.

"There you are, Jizelle!" Gar exclaimed. "We thought we'd lost you when you disappeared after Drama!"

"Oh, I had to get something from my locker," Jizelle explained with a sense of finality in her voice, showing the others that that was that.

After an uncomfortable few seconds of silence, Vic changed the subject and all five fell back into friendly, comfortable and easy chatter.

**

* * *

**

Robin: How did you…?

**Me: *Jumps out of closet* I'm me! I can do anything with my magic pencil!**

**Robin: What pencil?**

**Me: This one! *Holds up pencil***

**Robin: It doesn't look that magic!**

**Me: *Deadpans and shoves Robin away* Anyway…The competition is still on!! I repeat, the competition is still on! Please guys, I would really appreciate everyone reading this (Yes, that includes you) to give me a suggestion! Oh, and I'd also like either a piece of music from a Disney film or a song that Jericho/Joseph can play on the guitar…**

**Just to clarify, I need songs for…:**

**Richard's group**

**Jizelle's group**

**Vic & Gar**

**Jericho/Joseph's guitar solo (Acoustic, not electric):**

**Kitten's group**

**I think that's all…Oh, wait! A little puzzle thingy! Now, if I told you that the four form tutors are called Miss Periwinkle, Mr Sei, Mr Azire and Mrs Navila, can you tell me what these names have in common? I can't think of any hints to give without giving it away…winners get non-alcoholic punch and cyber biscuits!**

**Review please!!**


	6. Chapter 5: Da project part 2

**L****e gasp!!! Another update!!! Aren't you people lucky!!! **

**I have found something out!! The funny little squiggly line things don't show up on FanFiction!! Which is why on the last chapter, there was a scene changing confusion thingy that someone picked up and told me…I HAVE FOUND THE CULPRIT!!! MWAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!! Now…to train myself to stop using them…**

**Okayz, here is da link between da tutors names…**

**Miss Periwinkle: Periwinkle**

**Mrs Navila: Navy**

**Mr Azire: Azure**

**Mr Sei: Sky**

**They're all based off of shades of blue…Yeah, I'm just cool that way… ;) **

**Anyways, here is da second part of da projects!!! (Laughs evilly)**

* * *

Richard yawned and got out of bed, stretching his arms above his head. The clock on the desk next to him read '4:40'. He slipped on a bright red dressing gown with a yellow 'R' on a black circle. Then he stepped into his slippers, opened a pair of large, glass doors and walked onto his balcony. There was a white railing all around the area to stop him falling off; the floor was made of cool, white tiles.

Sighing to himself, he leant forward onto the railings, watching the fantastic view of the sun rising from behind a couple of silhouetted hills in the distance. The sky was perfect mess of orange and yellow, pink clouds with silver linings dotted around.

Richard loved watching the sunrise; it was his favourite part of the day. When the sun had fully risen above the horizon and was smiling down on the half-asleep world, he walked back inside his room and grabbed some clothes from his drawers and quickly changed into them. The time on his clock now said '5:20'. He grinned to himself and slipped out of the room. Three staircases and seven corridors later, he opened another door and entered what looked like a gym.

Smirking slightly to himself, he entered the room and started working out. Something he did every morning for about two hours. He would finish at 7:30 and go and take a shower. After applying his hair gel and changing into casual clothes, he went to breakfast, which was just down the hall. He thanked Alfred, the butler, as he placed a plate of food in front of him.

After eating, he would quickly check himself in the mirror, say good bye to Bruce, his guardian, and go out the door to walk the ten minutes to the bus stop.

As usual, he arrived at the bus stop, just in time to jump onto the large, yellow vehicle before it whizzed off to school. He sat down in the seat next to Roy, who turned to him and grinned.

"Hey Rich! Manage to catch the bus this time?"

Richard laughed. "Yeah, besides, Bruce wouldn't have been able to take me in anyway…"

"Ah, okay."

**-At school-**

Richard, Roy, Wally and Garth strutted off the bus in their usual manner, chatting happily to each other. They ignored the looks of longing from ogling girls and envious glares from jealous boyfriends as they made their way towards a group of benches.

**

Toni sighed as she plopped down next to Rachel, who turned to her curiously.

"You okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Toni answered, "I was up until half ten doing some German homework…"

"Ah, so you're tired then?" Rachel guessed.

"No, it was just so boring!" she exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air, "Ugh! But I suppose I'm kinda tired as well…who could sleep with mum and dad practising for their show tomorrow?"

Rachel nodded. Toni's parents; Bert and Mary, were theatrical freaks and loved performing in musicals and shows. They had recently gotten the leading roles in a local production of 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'. They insisted on practising every night and so, recently, Toni had to try to sleep through her mum belting out '_Scrumptious'_ long into the night.

Kori, Jizelle, Gar and Vic, by now, had seated themselves opposite the two girls.

"Greetings Rachel! How are you this fine morning?" Kori asked in her usual, overly-cheerful manner.

"As good as I was last time you asked," Rachel answered, glancing over at her.

"That is wondrous news!"

Gar laughed slightly and glanced at his watch. "Hmm…strange, Kole's bus is usually here by now…" he mused to himself.

"Maybe there was a delay?" Vic suggested.

"Or maybe they where taken by the forces of _**evil!"**_ Gar yelled, jumping up, "Think about it, the bus was driving innocently along the road, when suddenly… They are attacked by aliens! Green, slimy mutants poured onto the bus, attacking everyone on board…and ate their brains!"

His amazing theory earned him a lot of blank expressions from his friends. He grinned nervously and shrunk slightly, "Uhh…then again, maybe not…"

Toni rolled her eyes at him but then spotted someone. "Hey look, Isaiah!" she said, motioning him with her eyes.

"Yeah…and?" Jizelle asked, looking at her curiously and cutting Gar off from saying something; which, by the mischievous look on his face, was probably a good thing.

"Well, he gets on Kole's bus…" Toni explained.

"Then where's Kole?" Vic asked, looking around the courtyard.

"Perhaps Kole is feeling the unwell today and is not able to attend school…" Kori said, worriedly.

"Yeah, probably…" he agreed. "C'mon, we should get to form…"

"Dudes, Gabby's not here yet," Gar reminded them.

"Gabby's not where yet?" Gabby asked, running over. "Sorry, traffic was mad this morning." She smiled apologetically. She walked to school as she lived quite close, as did Rachel. However, Gabby always took a little longer as she had to walk her younger brother to his school as well.

"Ah, there you are!" he exclaimed. "You've done the Spanish homework?"

"Yeah…" she answered, looking at him curiously.

"Good! Then you can let me copy it! Vic and Rachel won't let me copy theirs…" he sent them both glares over his shoulder.

Gabby sighed and pulled a piece of paper from her bag. "Fine, here…"

"Thank you Gabby!" Gar flashed a grin at her and started searching around in his back pack for some paper and a pen. After a minute or two of searching, Rachel fished the items out of her own bag and handed them to him. "Thanks Rach!"

"My name is not _Rach…"_ she growled, causing him to cower.

However, just then the bell rang out, saving Gar from Rachel's annoyance. They trudged in to the school building and split to go to their separate forms. Kori, Jizelle, Gar and Rachel went up some stairs to go to their form, Miss Periwinkle's. Gabby was in Mrs Navila's form, but was also up the stairs. Toni carried on down the corridor, waving the others good bye as she carried on to Mr Azire's form room. Vic went with her, but went into the classroom next to hers, Mr Sei's room, now slightly annoyed at Kole for making him a loner in his form.

"Good Morning," Mr Sei, a Japanese man, said when the last person had sat down. "Now, I-"

But whatever he was going to say was cut off as a pink-haired girl rushed in, panting heavily. "Sorry, Sir," she said between deep breaths. "Traffic problem…"

"Don't worry, just sit down," Mr Sei told her as she sat down between Vic and another boy with blonde hair. "Now as I was saying…"

While the teacher was talking, Vic leant over to her and asked, "Why are you so late?"

"Uhh…" she glanced at Joseph, the boy next to her, and looked back at Vic. "I'll tell you at break."

Joseph snuck a peek at Kole, also slightly interested why she wasn't on the bus that morning. He knew it wasn't any of his business but he couldn't help but be slightly curious. Though when she said she'd explain to her friend at break, he became interested as to why. Was it something bad that she didn't want overheard? Maybe it was long and complicated? Or maybe it was because Mr Sei was looking directly at them.

Glancing up, he saw Mr Sei _was_ looking directly at them so he sat up straight and pretended he had been listening the whole time.

"Hey, you okay?" Isaiah, who was sitting on the other side of him, asked when the teacher had looked away. "You zoned out for a moment."

Joseph gave him a smile and a nod before turning back to the teacher.

**

In Miss Periwinkle's form, Gar had just finished scribbling down the last of Gabby's answers onto his piece of paper. "There, done!" he said to Rachel who rolled her eyes. "What?"

"You really need to start doing your own homework…"

"But I don't have time to!" he insisted.

"You mean you waste the time you have playing video games."

"Hey! They're not a waste of time! They're very important!"

"Yeah, sure…" Rachel said sarcastically.

Behind them, Jizelle was silently laughing at her two friends bickering. Kori wasn't so amused.

"Please friends, could you attempt to refrain from the arguing with each other?" she asked quietly.

"Sorry Kori," Gar said, smiling, just as the bell went for first period. "C'mon Rach! We've got Spanish!" He jumped up. "I need to give Gabby her homework."

Rachel sighed and got up; deciding not to waste her breath on telling Gar her name wasn't Rach when he wouldn't listen anyway. All four of them walked out of the classroom, Kori and Jizelle splitting off to go to their French and German classes respectfully.

Kori wandered down the corridor, smiling and waving as Jizelle turned right into another classroom for her German class, leaving Kori on her own to go to French. However, on the way she just so happened to crash into someone who wasn't looking where they were going.

"Oi!" The boy snarled, shoving her away from him. "Don't touch me!"

"My most sincere apologies!" Kori said, stepping back. "I did not mean to do the harming of you! I am most sorry for walking into you, although you were not observant of where you were going."

The boy growled and shoved her again. "Don't talk to me like that," he spat, "Freak."

Kori's apologetic smile faded instantly and her eyes saddened. "I-I shall go now," she said, walking around him carefully so as not to accidently touch him. He glared at her and walked into his classroom, his friends laughing.

The corridor was now almost empty when she finally got to where her French class was. She was late, but better late than never! She was about ten feet away from the door to the classroom when a leg jutted out and sent her flying to the floor in a heap. Looking up, Kori saw her own sister, Komi, smirking down at her.

"Oh, did I trip you up? I'm ever so sorry, sister _dear_," she said in a snide voice whist her friend, Christine, giggled cruelly. Both then turned and walked into their class, leaving Kori on the floor, now even more miserable than before.

While all this was happening, Richard, Roy and Wally were walking slowly down the corridor. Roy was complaining to them about something, though the other two were just laughing. They were about to walk into the classroom when, out of the corner of his eye, Richard noticed Kori being tripped by her older sister. As soon as he realised who it was, he readied himself to ignore her and carry on talking to her friends, but then he saw her face.

She looked sad, miserable, hurt, betrayed and so many other emotions he couldn't describe. He seemed to lose control of his body as his legs moved and strode towards her. He offered Kori a hand, much to her and his friends' amazement.

Kori stared at his hand, wandering if she should take it or not. Hadn't her friends always told her that Richard and his crew were bad and shouldn't be trusted? Yet there he was, offering to help her up.

"Are you okay?" he asked her as she, finally but hesitantly, took his hand. He hoisted her up to her feet, giving her a kind smile.

"Yes, thank you, I am without injury," Kori told him, still in shock. Richard chuckled lightly and let go of her hand. She returned his smile as they walked into French. However, there were only two seats left, right at the front. Richard looked over at Roy and Wally who gave him apologetic looks, motioning Daisy and Cindy either side of them. 'Sorry! They wouldn't move!' Roy mouthed to him, trying to shake of Daisy who holding his arm.

The teacher, Mr Voyage, barked at Kori and Richard in his thick French accent, telling them to hurry up and sit down. They did so and pulled out their French books and pens form their bags. Mr Voyage had, on a large white board, written out five sentences in English and five in French for the class to translate. While they were getting on with that, he was marking some homework from another class.

Roy scribbled something onto a scrap of paper from his book, scrunched it up and chucked it at Richard's head. It hit, causing the boy to turn around in annoyance, pick up the paper ball and smooth it out again.

'_Why'd you help her up?' _it read. He frowned for a moment, unsure of how to respond. He scrawled a quick _'I dunno'_ on and threw it back.

The two red-heads pressed their heads together to read the note, glancing up at him when they had. Wally's face soon turned to one of mischief as he jotted down something and tossed it over.

Richard read it, groaning slightly in annoyance when he had. Kori, interested, peeked at the note.

'_Aw is she you__r girlfriend?'_

Kori glanced back at him, confused. Why were they accusing her of being his girlfriend? They were not in a pleasant and special association, including the sharing of enjoyable recreation and occasionally the buying of bountiful floral arrangements. Stealing another look at the note, she saw that Richard had written, _'NO!'_ in capital letters before it was thrown back to his friends.

Roy and Wally just grinned at him.

When class ended, everyone got up and rushed out. However, before Richard could escape his two friends, they had ambushed him and were now giving him devilish smirks.

"So, a little birdie told us you like that Kori girl..." Roy said, leaning on one of Richard's shoulders.

"Little birdie? What are you talking about?"

"It was so romantic the way you helped her up and walked her to class..." Wally gushed teasingly, pretending to swoon on his other shoulder.

"We were both in the same class! There wasn't much I could do to avoid it!"

"And you sat down next to her as well...." Roy sighed.

"Shut up you guys!" Richard exclaimed, pushing the two boys off him. However, they were laughing too much to notice.

The three of them walked into their technology class. Everyone had technology at the same time but was split into three groups. Rachel and Vic also happened to be in their class.

Everyone sat down in their normal seats as their teacher called the register. However, before he set them work, he announced that he wanted to move some people around.

"Bill, please swap with Ben and sit next to Jerry. Robin, go and sit with John. Harry and Ron, please swap with Jacob and Ebenezer. Jack, move and sit next to Jill. Rachel and Victor, please move to the front and sit with Wallace, Richard and Leroy."

Rachel and Vic looked at each other, silently wishing the other 'good luck' before picking up their stuff and moving. They sat down opposite Richard, Roy and Wally.

They were given work to do as the teacher left to go to the shops. He wasn't a very good teacher.

Only Rachel and Vic were doing the work properly, as everyone else was just messing around. Opposite them, Roy and Wally had gotten back to teasing Richard.

"Richard's in lurve!" Wally said, clasping his hands together. "He's finally become a man!"

"Aw, Richard! We're so proud of you!" Roy patted his back, as if congratulating him.

"I do not like Kori!" Richard told them sharply, looking a little annoyed.

At this, Rachel and Vic looked up. Why were they talking about Kori? Or more to the point, why were they accusing Richard of liking her. He barely ever noticed her.

Wally and Roy looked at each other and grinned. "_Richard and Kori, sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"_ They sang childishly, laughing as their friend turned red from anger. Vic and Rachel turned and looked at each other again, this time with worry.

-Break-

Kori, Gar, Jizelle and Toni walked through the doors leading from the cafeteria to the courtyard and flocked to their table. Rachel and Vic soon arrived as well, and wasted no time in interrogating Kori about the Richard.

"Kori, did you talk to Richard?" Rachel asked, sitting down opposite her.

"Did he talk to you?" Vic questioned, sitting next to her.

"Did you walk into him?"

"Did he upset you?"

"Did his friends upset you?"

Kori blinked in confusion at their numerous questioned. "I am sorry, but I do not understand what you are 'getting at'," she said.

"Basically, did you see Richard Grayson today at all?" Rachel told her. Kori nodded.

"Yes, when he was helping me to an upright position because my sister had tripped me down."

"Uh, Kori, don't you mean 'tripped you _up?"_ Gar intersected.

"Up? But I went downwards, not upwards," Kori replied as though it was obvious.

"Uh, anyway, he helped you up," Rachel summarised.

"What happened after that?" Vic asked.

"We entered the class of French. However, during the period, where we had been set tasks to complete, he was constantly interrupted by balls of paper that concealed messages from his two friends! Though it was wondrous that his friends still wished to converse with him during a time that should be used for work, they were making false accusations about myself."

"False accusations?" Toni repeated. "Like what?"

"They were referring to myself as his girlfriend, when it is clear that we share no pleasant relationship, nor do we exchange gifts of sugary delicacies or extravagant floral arrangements."

"Girlfriend?" Jizelle questioned. "Who was saying this?"

Kori thought about it for a moment before answering. "I believe these false accusations were delivered by Wally and Roy."

"Wally?" Jizelle glanced around and spotted the red head with his friends. "No surprises there then..."

Gar waggled his eyebrows at her. "Ah, young love..." he mused. Jizelle turned and glared at him.

"What did you say?"

"Uhh..."

Kori, Toni, Vic and Rachel watched them, some more amused than others. Just then, Kole and Gabby came running over.

"Hey guys!" The former greeted. "What did we...miss..." she trailed off when she spotted Jizelle growling at Gar who was just grinning.

"What's up with her?" Gabby asked, looking at the angry girl.

"Gar's just teasing her," Vic explained, "again..."

The two girls smiled and nodded as they sat down.

"Aw, c'mon Jizelle!" Gar was saying. "Or, you could go on a double date with Kori and Richard!"

Jizelle's eyes flashed angrily whilst Kori's looked at him in confusion.

"But I thought we had established that we posses no such relationship," she said.

"Well, you never know..." Gar told them, winking. However, before Jizelle could murder him on the spot like she so wanted to do, the bell went for third period. The green boy was safe...for now...

Kori, Rachel and Vic went one way for Geography whilst Toni, Jizelle, Gabby, Kole and Gar went the other way for History. Outside the Geography classroom, everyone was lined up as the door was closed.

Mr Mod then strode out with his register. "Now, my duckies!" he said to them, "Come in single file, showing me your homework as you do. I want you to start working with your partner as soon as you get in." The class began following his instructions and walked into the class room one by one, making sure he could glance at their homework and tick them off the register as they went.

Kori and Rachel got started immediately, showing each other their homework and writing something on another piece of paper. When Vic entered, he soon spotted Karen and, slightly grudgingly, went over to her. He dropped his homework on the desk, causing her to jump slightly and look up at him.

"Hm? Oh, hey," she said, giving him a vague wave of her hand in greeting as he sat down next to her. "Okay, so, we've done the physical features of Uganda and I've started on the civilisation there," she said, summing up what they had done so far. "Someone needs to finish it off." Vic looked he was about to say something but she cut across him. "And the other needs to do the History."

"Okay, I'll do the History and you do the civilisation bit."

For once, Karen agreed. "Okay, you get a textbook and when we get to the computer room, I'll do my research on the internet."

"Uh, excuse me?"

"What?"

"How come you get dibs on the computer?"

"Because I said so. You got a problem with that?"

Meanwhile, Kori and Rachel were working quite happily with each other. They glanced over at Karen and Vic, wandering how they were getting on. When they saw them arguing as before, they sighed and went back to work.

Mad Mod soon allowed them to go back to the computer room. Karen and Vic both leapt up and rushed out of the room, both eager to get to a computer first. Karen won, Vic sulked.

"Now, why don't you go get a text book?" Karen asked. "From the library, they're bound to have something!"

Forty minutes later, the class was sent back to the geography classroom where Mr Mod stood at the front to talk to them.

"Alright my duckies, you now have ten minutes to decide how to present your work to the rest of the class," he told them, leaning forward on his cane. "Get to work!"

The class sighed as they sat down again in their pairs to work out their presentations. Vic and Karen had divided their work into three sections and were discussing who should say what bit.

"Okay, so, how about I say about the geography and the civilisation of Uganda?" Vic suggested.

"Wait, so what do I say?" Karen asked, looking through the work.

"The History bit."

She found the said section and frowned. "But that's the smallest bit!"

"And?"

"I so should say more than that," Karen argued. "Besides, you should do the part on the History!"

"Why?"

"Because _you're_ the one who researched it!"

"What? So you want me to do the smallest section and you do the rest?" Vic asked, annoyed.

"Well, okay then."

"Okay?"

"Yeah! Okay, you do the small bit and I'll do the rest!" Karen explained, smirking.

"Hey! I never agreed to that!"

"Well you were the one offering!"

"I wasn't offering!"

"Then what were you doing?"

However, Vic was saved when the bell went off. He sighed. "Okay, how about I'll do geography, as it's the biggest section, and you do the other two? That way it's more even."

Karen thought about it for a moment. She had to admit, it did sound like an alright idea, and they were going to have to perform it next lesson. They didn't have any time to argue about it. "Okay, fine."

"Then it's settled." Vic said, smiling, before getting up and walking off to catch up with Kori and Rachel.

A few minutes after the last few students had left another barrage of kids arrived, animatedly talking and chattering to each other. Amongst these were Jizelle, Kole, Gar, Gabby and Toni.

"Ugh, I swear if I have to listen to my parents churn out Chitty Chitty Bang Bang again, I shall scream," Toni was saying, frowning. "I've not been able to get to sleep for the last three weeks! Look at these bags!" She moved her head forward and pointed out the skin under her eyes to Jizelle who just rolled hers.

"Their show starts tomorrow, it's only on for a week and a bit and then it'll all be over…" she reminded her.

"But after that they're auditioning for Oliver!" Toni moaned. "They'll be bellowing 'Oom-papa' and 'It's a fine life' and that stuff. Once was enough, remember when they dragged me along to that 10 o' clock showing?"

Jizelle, Kole and Gar nodded. Gabby looked at Toni with interest, wandering what had happened. Toni started to explain when the class was called in by Mr Mod. They were given the same instructions as the first lot and were sent to work.

Toni dropped herself in the seat next to Isaiah, carelessly tossing her homework on the desk. For the next ten minutes, they discussed what they needed to do that lesson, establishing that they needed to think about tying together the bits and bobs they had done so far.

"Okay, so if you put together the bits about the geography of it, then I'll do the people that live there/used to live there." Isaiah said, sorting through the many pieces of paper than littered their desk. He passed her a large pile of paper and started sifting through the smaller pile in front of himself. Toni looked at the two heaps of paper and frowned.

"Don't you think that's a little unfair?"

Isaiah raised an eyebrow. "Unfair?"

"Yeah, unfair. I mean, I've got to work with all of this, and all you've got to do is that little pile!"

"Well, uhh…I thought you'd want to do that one?" Isaiah explained lamely, a nervous smile on his face.

"You sure it wasn't because you wanted to make me do all the work?" she challenged, eyes flashing him the dare to say something back.

"No! I just thought you would prefer that bit, I mean, you seem to like mountains so much…"

Toni's argument was interrupted when Mr Mod slammed his cane on the front desk, causing quite a few students to jump in their seats. "Alright, my duckies, time to go to the computer room!" The students got up, grabbing their stuff, and marched out of the room in an unstructured clump.

The entire journey from the classroom to the computer room, Toni and Isaiah were bickering, and showed no signs of stopping soon.

"Wow, they've been arguing since they first came in…that has to be a record…" Jizelle commented, having been watching them for the last couple of minutes.

"Yeah, and its Toni we're talking about," Kole added.

"Heh, you guys have got to admit, it is pretty entertaining…" Gar laughed. Gabby was just smiling, obviously amused by the whole thing.

Fortunately, during their time in the computer room, Toni and Isaiah managed to come to some sort of agreement. For the remainder of their internet researching time, they actually managed to get on harmoniously and got a lot done, much to Toni's friend's amazement.

"Hmm…you know, I can so see Toni and Isaiah getting together…" Gar mused, watching them as the group of kids went back to class.

"Gar, you can see lots of people getting together, but none of them have happened yet." Jizelle said, rolling her eyes.

"Nuh-huh! Name three!"

"Jizelle and Wally…" Kole started.

"Kori and Richard…" Gabby added.

"Gabby and Garth…" Jizelle finished.

"But dudes!" Gar whined, stretching out the 'u' sound.

The girls just laughed as they all got back inside the classroom. After given instructions for the last ten minutes of the class, Mr Mod leant back in his chair, reading something, which no doubt was English or about England.

"So, Kole, why were you late this morning?" Jizelle asked, having already finished the presentation plans with her.

"Oh yeah, I was gonna explain at break but the tech teacher decided to give us a whole class detention and I forgot. I'll tell you at lunch," Kole said, glancing around the class.

Gabby picked up on this. "Why so secretive?"

"It's about…my uncle…"

"Oh." They were silent for a moment, remembering her uncle's 'condition'. They were too caught up in their thoughts to realise that class had ended until someone tapped Gar on the shoulder.

"Are we going to go or not?" Toni asked one eyebrow lifted.

"Huh? Has class ended?" Gar looked around, his question answered by the almost empty room.

"Duh…" Toni rolled her eyes.

"Oh, heheh…right…" They got up and made their way out of the room, glad they had missed the beginning of lunchtime hallway clog that happened everyday. When they'd gotten their lunch, they joined the others under their tree. Kori was happily munching on something bright pink with tentacles and what looked like purple bananas with lurid green lumps.

Regarding Kori's food with distaste, Jizelle sat down opposite. "Um…Kori…what's that?"

"It is a wondrous Tamaranean meal entitled K'flarnian Jambark'fa. It is a simply delightful concoction of zorkaberries, lampiroots and the zest of a flambagone."

Her friends blinked in confusion at the strange sounding foods, pretending to know what she was talking about as she proceeded to describe to them the recipe for the disgusting looking dish.

"Well, sounds better than this…" Kole commented when she had finished, prodding the food on her plate with a fork. "Cafeteria food sucks…"

"That's why I bring in a packed lunch!" Gar boasted, holding up his sandwich with pride.

"Is that that icky tofu stuff again?" Vic pulled a disgusted face as he cut up his meat loaf, at least that's what it had said on the menu for that day.

"Dude! It's not icky tofu stuff!" Gar insisted, swallowing a bite of the fake meat.

However, before the two could dissolve into their usual food argument, Jizelle changed the subject by asking Kole, "So, why were you late today?"

The table fell silent and looked at Kole, who shifted uncomfortable. "Okay, this morning, when I was walking out the door, Uncle Greg, he, started talking to himself, something about being cold, and light fading. And then he picked up a chair and started smashing everything electrical. I called the emergency number and, when he'd calmed down, some people came to find out what had happened and gave me a lift to school."

Gar was the first to break the stinging silence. "Is he going to go back to therapy then?" he asked quietly. Kole looked down and didn't answer straight away.

"I don't know, probably…"

They once again fell into silence, tension hung thickly in the air. Eventually, they started eating their various meals again.

_**-After school, about 5pm-**_

Toni walked through the park, a bag in one hand, a purse hanging off her shoulder. A warm summer breeze ruffled her hair and lifted her red skirt slightly. There weren't many people around as she made her way to the bus stop to catch a bus back to her house. She had decided to go do a bit of shopping, she needed a new pair of tights and her mother's birthday was coming up.

As she went past a few people, they seemed to stop and look at her. And, like vultures watching a carcass, inched closer. Toni, determined not to be intimidated by them, carried on with her head held high, until she heard someone shout in a hillbilly accent, "Hey! Look who it is!"

She turned her head to the boys who had previously been watching her.

"Why, its little miss Vampire girl!" A second, shorter boy yelled out, followed by a chorus of laughter.

"Don't you mean Goth-erella!"

"Freakenstein!"

Toni growled her grip on her bags tightening. "Actually, it's Toni," she said, ignoring them as they laughed again.

"Ha, looks like little Miss Ugly Pugling's getting cranky." The short boy teased cruelly, grinning and stepping towards her. The third boy laughed, a little high pitched for his gender.

The five boys were soon close enough for Toni to see them properly.

"You are just jealous you have to act like you do to get attention," Toni told them coolly, pretending to be more interested in her nails.

"Pfft, jealous?" little Givon repeated, glaring up at her.

"Yeah right!" Seymour stood next to Givon, adjusting his glasses slightly.

"If you ask us, it's you who's jealous of us!" Billy added before chuckling.

"Do we squish her now?" Goliath asked in his deep grunt.

As usual, Ahriman said nothing.

"Yeah, we'll squish her now," Givon said. Goliath grinned and advanced on her, his great fists ready to pummel her to the ground.

"I'm warning you, if you touch me you'll wish you hadn't," Toni threatened, stepping back.

"Ha, look, the little girl thinks she can take us all on!" Billy laughed. He side stepped to stand behind her. She hadn't noticed this until she was tripped up by his leg. She landed on the ground with a thump, glaring up at them. Seymour picked up her shopping bag, which was laying a couple of feet away.

"What have we got here?" he asked, rummaging through it.

"Hey! Give that back!" Toni yelled, getting up and making towards him. Billy grabbed her arm and stopped her moving any closer to the other boy. She snarled and lifted a hand to slap him.

However, she was too late as Goliath raised a fist and thrust it towards her. Her natural instincts and reactions took over; she ripped her arm from Billy's grasp and jumped to the side, narrowly missing the punch. She didn't manage to dodge the shove her former captor had just delivered and was now on the ground again, wincing.

Just then, she heard a voice from somewhere behind Seymour.

"Hey! What's going on?"

A couple of the Hive Five turned around to see who had interrupted them. Isaiah walked calmly toward them, though his eyes were full of anger.

"Just taking out the trash," Givon answered whilst grinning his impish smirk.

"Trash, the only trash I see here is you," Isaiah glared at the five boys. Toni got herself up, dusting off her clothes, and looked at him.

"Aw, c'mon! We're just having a little _fun…_" Seymour said, dropping the shopping bag on the floor next to the girl whilst Billy gave the new comer a dirty look. Still, he said nothing, looking right back at Toni.

"You okay?" he asked, putting a hand on her back and leading her away from the gang of bullies. The others glared at them with murderous eyes, but at the same time unsure of what to make of it.

"I, uh, yeah…thanks…" Toni said. She fiddled nervously with the handle of the bag she had retrieved whilst getting up.

"No problem. Besides, it's them who should be sorry; they were the ones who started picking on you."

Toni said nothing, instead staring at the ground.

"Where were you headed anyway?" Isaiah asked after a few silent seconds.

"Oh shoot, I was heading for the bus stop, but I've probably missed it by now…" she moaned. "I don't think there's another bus to my street for hours."

"Hey, don't worry, I'm sure my dad won't mind giving you a lift."

"But he doesn't even know me!"

"He won't mind," Isaiah reassured her. "C'mon, what do you say?"

"Well…I don't know…"

"Aw, come on!"

"Oh, alright then, if you insist…" she finally gave in. Isaiah smiled and started walking back to his house, now wandering how his parents were going to react to him bringing a girl home, for the first time.

**

* * *

**

Okayz…that was a random ending…Gosh, I'm turning so cheesy aren't I!! Well, at least I had her standing up when he led her off, instead of him having to help her up because that a) has already been done in this chapter, and b) would probably choke you guys on fluff! You fluff loving readers, you!

**And for those who did choke on the cheese in this chapter, next one is going to be, uh, how to I put it? Interesting…*grins evilly***

**Ahem, review please!! And I am soooooo sorry for the super slow update, there was this really confusing laptop business and then I had writers block and then…I kept getting, ahem, 'distracted'…What? I get distracted easily!!**

**The competition is still on!! And just saying, I know this isn't an official rule but if you do make a suggestion, try to make one that hasn't been said yet 'cause then I end up getting loads of entries the same and if I choose a song for a group that's been suggested numerous times then I'll either have to say the first person who suggested it won and upset lots of people or have a super duper long chapter, mainly of loads of different people because so many chose the same songs…**

**Did you get that? 'cause I sure didn't…I always over complicate things…sigh…****Anyway, the list of songs, already used, are on my profile!! Please check it out!! **

**Also, there is a bit in the tech lesson with names. Well, all of them (apart from Rachel and that lot obviously) Go together with the one they're said with (As in '****Robin**** go and sit with ****John****') But…can you guess WHY I put them with together? And in case there's any confusion, Wallace is Wally and Leroy is Roy…obviously…**

**Review please!!**


	7. Chapter 6: Larry?

**OMGsh! Is this actually happening! Me…UPDATING something! *Faints***

**Random Kid: *Kicks Flare***

**Gopher: *Flies through the air and knocks Random Kid out* Super Gopher to the rescue!**

**Me: *Wakes up* What the…? Um, anywayz! I do not own Teen Titans!**

**Oh and another **_**VERY IMPORTANT**_** thing. Goliath (Mammoth)'s name is Manfred Golman. Goliath WAS his nickname. This was a recent decision. I am now making his nickname MAMMOTH. If you're still confused, PM me, ask me in a review. If you didn't read this and therefore don't know this, then that's your fault. **

**And yeah, the title's unoriginal...I wasn't sure what else to call it! *cowers***

**Over and out.**

* * *

"Okay guys, I've got a good one!" Gar said, grinning at his groaning friends. "Okay, so, this dude says 'My wife's gone to the West Indies', and this other dude says 'Jamaica?' and the first dude says 'no, she went of her own accord!'!" He started laughing hysterically whilst Vic, Toni, Kori, Rachel, Kole, Gabby and Jizelle stared at him blankly.

"Uhh…"

"Don't you get it?" Gar asked, ceasing his laughter and looking at the other teens around the table. "He says 'Jamaica' and the other dude says 'no, she went of her own accord!' Huh, huh?"

Judging by the silence he was receiving, he guessed a ball of tumbleweed would've rolled by if they were in a cartoon.

Nevertheless, he tried again. "Okay, how about this one? This guy walks into a bar and says- Oh look, a dog!"

"Huh?" his friends exchanged confused glances, trying to make some sense of it.

"'Oh look, a dog?'" Rachel repeated.

"No! Look, a dog!" He pointed to the left of his friends where a little, black dog was scampering around as if looking for something.

"Oh yeah…" Jizelle murmured with raised eyebrows.

"Wonder how it got here," Toni mused with a slight frown.

"Poor thing must be terrified!" Kole simpered, watching it with wide eyes.

"Doesn't look terrified to me…" Vic muttered.

"Woof!" the dog woofed.

"C'mere doggie, c'mere!" Gar said, bending down and trying to get the dog's attention. The dog looked at him and trotted over. It started sniffing his hand then barked loudly.

"Does he belong to someone?" Gabby asked, hesitantly stroking its head.

"Is he wearing of the collar?" Kori questioned, her eyes glittering with admiration for the creature.

"He has a collar but no tag," Gar told them after checking. "Weird."

"Maybe he's been Micro chipped," Jizelle suggested. "Midnight's been Micro chipped so she doesn't have a name tag on her collar." She was referring to her own pet, a slinky, black cat called Midnight.

"Yeah, maybe we should take him to the vet or something," Toni said, offering her hand to the dog.

"But what are we going to do with him now? We can't take him into school," Gabby pointed out.

The others then fell silent, trying to think of something to solve this predicament.

"So yeah, now I don't know what to call him," Richard said to his friends as they strolled across the courtyard.

"Wow, that was pretty random of Bruce, to go and buy you a dog for no reason," Garth said. "I mean, your birthday was months ago."

"Back in March," Roy added.

"Yeah, I know," Richard shrugged. "I don't know. I think Bruce is loosing it, or just isn't getting enough sleep. You should've seen the bags under his eyes the other day."

"Yeah, well, you know, I guess he is getting on a bit," Wally said.

"Good point." He nodded. "Well, anyone got a suggestion for the dog?"

"Flash!" Wally suggested.

"Speedy!" Roy exclaimed.

"I was thinking Robin," Richard said, tapping his chin.

"Flash? Speedy? Robin?" Garth raised his eyebrows at his friends.

"What? If I had a pet then I'd call him Flash!" Wally said defensively.

"Why don't you get one then?" Garth asked.

"My uncle said that animals are nosy and get in the way."

"Hey! What's wrong with Speedy?" Roy demanded, cutting Garth off from whatever he was going to say.

"Hey, no offence, Roy, but I don't think I'm gonna take name advice from someone who named their rabbit Harry Potter," Richard said with a smirk.

"Hey! It's _Hairy_ Potter, not Harry Potter!" Roy said slightly sourly.

"-Which isn't much better." Wally grinned.

"Besides, I didn't come up with it, Brat did!" Roy growled. Betty, or Brat as he called her, was his eight year old sister.

"Yeah, sure…" Garth smirked and rolled his eyes.

"Anyway…" Richard said loudly to bring his friends back to the matter at hand. "I need a name for the dog!"

"Well, what does he look like?" Wally asked.

"He's small…and black…and sorta like…like…that one over there!" he nodded his head in Gar's direction where he and his friends were crowded around the dog.

"I think I'll call him Larry," Gar decided, looking down at the dog admiringly.

"You're not keeping the dog," Rachel told him sternly, the only one of them still standing.

"Awwww…"

"He's not yours. He belongs to someone else."

"Well, whoever he belongs to, they should call him Larry."

"What is it with the name Larry?" Jizelle asked, arching an eyebrow.

"It's a cool name." Gar shrugged. "If I had a dog, I'd call it Larry."

"You already have a dog," Kole pointed out. "Why don't you call him Larry?"

"It'd be confusing for him to suddenly be called something else," Gar said stiffly.

"Yeah, but don't you think you should give your dog a proper name?" Vic asked.

"Woof is a proper name!" Gar said indignantly, his eyes daring someone to tell him he was wrong.

Rachel took the dare. "Maybe in another dimension."

"Well, I think Larry is a great name for a dog! Don't you agree, Kori?" Gar nudged Kori with his elbow but she didn't take any notice. "Kori?"

"Why is Richard staring at us?" she suddenly asked, causing the others to glance at her then follow her line of vision to where Richard and his pals where looking directly at them.

"Maybe he's realised how cool we are!" Gar exclaimed, his eyes glittering at the thought.

"Or maybe he's wandering why we have a dog…" Toni said, sending suspicious looks at Richard & co as they started walking over.

Richard soon neared the group with Wally, Roy and Garth right behind him. "How on Earth did he get here?" he asked himself.

"Hey!" Gar suddenly called out to them, waving his arms and much to the surprise of the rest of the people at the table.

"Gar! What are you doing?" Toni hissed.

"Waving! What does it look like?" Gar answered, glancing down at her momentarily. "Look! They're still coming over! Ooh! I'm so excited…"

"Gar, they're just some other students at the school, not celebrities or whatever," Rachel pointed out.

"But they're celebrities of the school!"

"Um, hey!" Richard said when he finally reached their table. "Uh, yeah, where'd you find my dog?"

Gar was too awe stricken to talk so Jizelle took over.

"He was wandering around the courtyard and came over to us," she said. "What do you mean _your_ dog?" she sneaked a quick look at Wally who was smiling goofily at her.

"Exactly what I said. The dog's mine."

Gar's look of awe turned to one of horror in an instant. "You've come to take Larry away?" he asked fearfully.

"The dog's not called Larry, Gar," Toni sighed. "He's not yours."

Richard held his hand out to the dog which immediately bounded over and sniffed it happily. Gar's ears drooped.

"I'll miss you, Larry," he said sadly as Richard and his friends walked off with Larry close behind.

His friends rolled their eyes at his farewell whilst Richard, Roy, Garth and Wally fell back into the conversation of names.

"Hmm…I think he looks like a Scruffy to me," Wally said.

"What about…Blackie?" Garth asked.

"Sootie?" Roy suggested.

"Coalie?"

Richard sighed at his friends' suggestions. He pulled out his mobile and scrolled down his contacts list until he found his home phone. Alfred picked up on the second ring.

"Yes, Master Richard?"

"Alfred, how fast can you get here?"

"'Here' being Jump City High, I presume," Alfred said with a smile in his voice.

"Of course. You see, a certain dog seems to have followed me to school?"

"Ahh, I see. Have you had any thoughts on names yet? I need to know as soon as possible."

"Oh, right, yeah…uhhhh…Larry, call him Larry."

"Larry?"

"Yeah…long story…see you soon, bye!" Richard pressed a button and ended to call.

"So, when's 'Larry' getting picked up?" Roy asked with a grin.

Richard paused for a second before answering, "Probably in about fifteen minutes, that's about how long it takes Bruce to drive me to school when he does."

Garth nodded then frowned. "What are you going to do with 'Larry' until then? We've got to go in," the bell suddenly went, "now and you can hardly leave him out here on his own."

"Hmm…" Richard stopped walking to think. "You've got a point. I'm not sure…"

"Why don't you tie him to a post?" Roy said. "I've seen plenty of dogs tied to posts outside supermarkets."

Gar sighed and stared miserably at the ground. "I miss him already."

"He's only been gone half a minute," Rachel said.

"But I still miss him!"

Rachel rolled her eyes, just as the bell went, signalling for them to go inside the large school building and get to form.

The group pushed themselves up from their seats and trudged toward the school, their spirits dampened by the thoughts of lessons. Upon bidding their friends farewell, they drifted into their forms and slumped down at a desk.

"I miss Larry…" Gar sighed again, his ears drooping.

"Yes Gar, we heard you the first million times…" Rachel said, sliding into the seat next to him.

"But I miss him real bad!"

"Will you please shut up about the dog?" Jizelle hissed from the desk behind them, Kori next to her.

"But-"

"Now class, remember to hand in your money for the field trip in a few weeks," Miss Periwinkle said, cutting him off, "otherwise you won't be allowed to go."

"Oh man!" Gar moaned. "The field trip! I completely forget about it!"

"Don't worry; you've still got till next Friday to do it," Jizelle pointed out. "Just remind your parents about it tonight and bring it in tomorrow."

"My parents don't know about it!" Gar cried. "I forgot to tell them!"

"But we have had one month to inform our k'norfka of this trip to the field," Kori said.

"I know…I just kept forgetting to!"

"Well, write it down then!" Jizelle told him.

"On what?"

"Paper?"

"Good idea!" He dived into his bag and pulled out a creased piece of paper and shook off the dust and pencil shavings that were on it. Pencil doodles and random words in pen littered one side. He went back to his bag to hunt around for a pen.

Not finding one, he looked at Rachel hopefully. She sighed and, after a five second search in her own bag, handed him a pen which he took gleefully and scribbled down a reminder for himself.

"Erm, Gar, that's not how you spell 'field'," Jizelle pointed out. "It's F-I-E-L-D, not F-E-I-L-D."

"Huh?"

"I before E, except after c, or when it sound like ay like in neighbours and weigh." Rachel reeled off automatically.

"Uh-huh…"

"And you've spelt 'talk' wrong, there's no Q in it."

"Wha-? That's not a Q! That's an A!"

"Looks more like an O with tail…" Jizelle commented.

"Hey! Quit digging at my handwriting!"

"Please, how are they 'digging' when they do not posses any instruments for such a task?" Kori asked, looking at them in confusion.

"Uhh…" They stared at her for a second before Rachel explained. "It's a figure of speech. It basically means we're making fun of it."

"Making fun?" Kori blinked innocently. "But how can it be creating fun? Gar does not look like he is having the fun…"

"Hey, look, a dog!" Seymour Iris said as pointed at a small, black, yapping dog tied to a lamppost just outside the school.

"Cool!" Manfred 'Mammoth' Goleman grunted. "Should we squash it?"

"You can't squish a dog!" Givon told him, looking up at the large teenager through beady eyes.

"I double that!" Billy piped up.

"Awww…" Mammoth's shoulders slumped.

"Hey, why don't we help the little guy out?" Seymour said slowly with a smirk.

"Huh? Why would we do that?" Givon asked, horrified by the idea of _helping_ someone.

Without dropping the smirk, Seymour untied the rope set the dog free. Larry immediately bounded away toward the school building.

"So…what do we do now?" Billy asked, looking around at the rest of his gang.

"…Eat pie?"

A long, black limousine pulled up to the school building, and a tall man in a black suit stepped out, his shoes clicking on the pavement. He looked around, his eyes scanning for something small, fuzzy, and loud. However, upon seeing nothing that fit this description, he strode toward the school building.

Larry sprung up the steps to the school and slipped through the door as someone pushed them open to exit. He padded down the corridors, looking for his master. A few people in the classrooms he passed spotted the dog, and excitedly told their friends, much to the annoyance of the teachers. Eventually the dog walked past a classroom with a familiar green boy inside…

"LARRY!" Gar yelled, jumping to his feet.

"What was that, Garfield?" his form tutor, Miss Periwinkle, asked, looking over at him.

"Um…may I please go to the bathroom?"

The woman sighed and waved a hand. "Yes, you may…"

Gar didn't waste time as he bolted out of the room and into the hallway. He looked up and down the corridor then spotted the small dog about halfway down. He scurried after the animal. Larry looked up and wagged his tail happily. Gar fell to his knees and petted him.

"Larry!" he cried, kissing his head. "I missed you so much! What are you doing here?"

Larry panted in reply.

"Oh, who cares? Just as long as I get to spend another few minutes with you!" he exclaimed, hugging the dog. "Hey! I'll give you a tour of the school! Let's go!" He picked up the other end of the rope that was still attached to Larry's collar and started leading him down the hallway.

"This," he started, "is the math block! Also known as the Pit of Doom…" He gestured the few doors down a wall of the corridor, around of which were notice boards with maths related displays.

He carried on down. "These are the English rooms! Perfect for a little shut eye if you've stayed up all night playing Ninja Monkeys 3."

Gar then gestured a door to another corridor. "Through there is geography, though it's usually more like an English History lesson, and after that is the entrance to the art corridor."

He turned and descended a staircase on his right through some double doors. "Down here are the history rooms and the language rooms. Through those doors is the science corridor, and over there is the technology corridor," he said as he started off down the hallway, passing various doors and displays about History and French. He soon arrived at a large space filled with tables and chairs. At the side was a sort of bar-like place with large, glass panels, behind of which were silver surfaces. Further back was a kitchen set up and a couple of people with hair nets and grubby white aprons.

"This is the cafeteria!" Gar told Larry, walking though casually. He came to another corridor with a door going off to the left. "Down there is the hall and the drama studio, further on is the sports hall, and then through here are the music rooms! And…"

Alfred walked with purpose through to the reception area, looking at the desk to see if anyone was there. However, upon finding it empty he carried on into the rest of the school building to find Larry.

"And over there is the Principle's office." Gar said, looking pointedly at a few doors opposite to where he was standing. "It's where you go when cranky teachers can't take it any more."

He carried on down the corridor. Bending down to pet the dog, he asked, "So Larry, what do you want to do now?"

Larry cocked his head to the side then licked Gar's hand, causing the boy to laugh.

"Hahaha! That tickles!"

Alfred strode up the corridor, his sharp eyes scanning his surroundings.

"Dude! A butler!" Gar exclaimed, staring at Alfred with a look of awe as he came around the corner.

Alfred looked toward the voice, a little surprised when he saw Gar. "Ah, hello…young sir…might I enquire where you found the dog? He belongs to Master Richard."

"But I love Larry!" Gar said, tightening his grip on the rope.

"Well, I am afraid I must take him off you," Alfred said.

"Aww…" The green boy pouted.

"I must take Master Richard's dog back to Wayne manor." Alfred said, trying to sound apologetic but failing.

"Oh, oka-wait, Richard? As in Richard Grayson?"

Alfred nodded.

"He has a manor? And a BUTLER!"

Alfred nodded again.

"Dude…well, I guess if you have to take Larry away…" Gar sighed, and handed him the rope. "I'll miss you boy…hey, where'd he go?"

Both looked around, but the dog was nowhere to be seen.

Richard Grayson was leaning back in his chair, not listening at all to his form tutor. Roy was doing a similar thing next to him. Both boys were wearing designer sunglasses which probably cost a pretty penny. However, the former awoke from this state to check the time, when he noticed a black dog scamper by. Alarmed, he jumped to his feet and yelled, "LARRY!"

"What was that, Mr Grayson?" Mr Azire said, watching him curiously through narrowed blue eyes.

"Uhh…Can I go to the bathroom?"

"Yes, go. Now, as I was saying…"

Richard didn't need telling twice as he leapt up and ran out the room.

Gar was panicking. Alfred was a lot calmer about the situation. "Judging by the shape the rope is in, I would say that Master Ri- Master Larry went this way." He started up the corridor. Gar looked a little confused and amazed, but followed anyway.

"So, is Richard really rich then?" He asked.

"Well, Mr Wayne is…"

"Is his mansion big?"

Alfred nodded.

"Does he have his own cinema?"

Alfred nodded.

"Does he have a huge, no, a massive plasma screen TV?"

Alfred nodded.

"Does he have a moped?"

Richard ran down the hallway, one hand holding his sun glasses on his face. Where was that dog? He finally caught a glimpse of something small, black and furry. "Larry!"

Larry was trotting down the corridor, rather happy with himself for somehow getting that rope off. However, his ears pricked up when he heard something being called. He recognised the voice; that was his Master's voice. He also recognised the word; people said it a lot around him. Was he meant to respond to it? He wasn't sure, he was only a dog.

Richard finally caught up with Larry, who looked up at him with a practically vibrating tail. "How did you get in here?" he asked the dog, scooping him up. "Alfred should be here by now, we'd better find him.

"Does he have-"

"Why are you so interested in what Master Richard owns?" Alfred said, giving Gar a slightly stern look.

"Uhh…heheh…just interested…"

Alfred sighed and a silence descended upon them. However, it was short lived as Gar piped up again.

"So…what doesn't he have?"

Alfred pondered this for a second. "Well, although there isn't much on that list of material goods, there is one thing that I think he needs."

"Which is…?" Gar prompted.

"A girlfriend," he replied, then said nothing more. The boy burst into laughter.

"A girlfriend! You think he needs a girlfriend! He probably has hundreds! Well, he would if wanted…"

"Well, he has had girls over before…but they've never seemed…what's the word…very savoury…"

"Huh?" Gar blinked.

"As in, they didn't seem the type to want a long standing relationship."

"Ohhhh…" he nodded. "I get you…Well, I know a few girls who, you know, are better than them…but I don't think they're Richard's type."

"Oh, why?" Alfred asked.

"Well, Richard doesn't seem to know we exist…" Gar trailed off. Alfred probably would've said something awe inspiring, if it weren't for the fact that they turned a corner, only to crash into Richard and Larry.

"Larry!" Gar exclaimed.

"Master Richard." Alfred nodded.

"Alfred." Richard nodded back.

"Arf!" Larry barked.

Eventually, Larry was attached to a red and yellow leash, the other end of which had Alfred's hand clamped around it. They were standing outside in the courtyard, Gar was on his knees next to Larry.

"I'm gonna miss you!" he cried, burying his face in Larry's fur. Larry licked his cheek.

"Well, I must return to the mansion now," Alfred announced after clearing his throat awkwardly. "Good day Master Richard and…young sir." With a stiff nod he led Larry away from them and towards a stretched, black limo.

"Dude!" Gar exclaimed. "You have a limo!"

"Uh, yeah…" Richard replied, unsure if Gar was talking to him.

"That is so cool! Aww man!" he deflated as the bell went, signalling the beginning of first lesson.

"Great…" Richard deadpanned. "Science."

And so, for the first time in the school's history, two people from completely different social classes, bonds between of which were never made, walked together in harmony toward the school building.

* * *

**Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand…finished! *confetti falls from the sky* Huh? Where'd all this colourful paper come from? Anywho, I would just like to say a big thanks to my special guests, Alfred and Larry! Give them a round of applause every body! **

***Alfred and Larry come on***

**Alfred: *Looks around with stiff posture and gives out a few curt nods***

**Larry: *chases his tail***

**Me: Thank you everyone for reading this! I would promise to update quicker in the future buuuuuuut…I can't guarantee that…heheheheh…I BLAME ROLEPLAYS! *Shakes fist***

**Golly gee! Another thing! I know this story was originally set in June, but I then realised that American Holidays confuse me so I've changed it! I'll just give you a list of dates the chapters were set on to avoid confusion:**

**Chapter 1: October 2****nd**

**Chapter 2: October 2****nd****/3rd**

**Chapter 3: October 10th**

**Chapter 4: October 14th**

**Chapter 5: October 15th**

**Chapter 6 (this one): October 21st**

**Review please!**

**Thanks for reading! **


	8. Chapter 7: Doubles, Diets and Dentists

**Okie dokie. First of all, I cannot express how sorry I am for being such a fail and being pants at updating stuff. I'M SORRY! DON'T COME AFTER ME WITH PITCHFORKS AND TORCHES! *Cowers under sofa***

**Titans: *Consider making a run for it whilst I am distracted***

**Me: *Leaps out again* Aaaaaaaanywho, I suppose you want to read the chapter, right? One serving of JCH coming riiiiiiiight up!**

**I own NOFFINK! Quit thinking I do!**

* * *

It was a bright yet cold day at Jump City High. Garfield Logan was shivering in his jacket as he stepped out of the bus. The crisp wind hit him straight away. "Brr…it wasn't this cold before…"

"It's only October," Toni told him, getting off after him, wearing a short sleeved, red tank top and not looking at all cold.

"Still, it's not exactly warm," Vic muttered, following Kori and Jizelle off the bus.

"How can you be cold? You're made of metal!" Gar said, lightly tapping his knuckles on Vic's metal chest.

"Which is a conductor of heat, which means my non-metal parts get very, very cold," he replied through clenched teeth.

"…Huh?"

"Never mind." The group of five was already making its way over to the bench underneath the tree for the ten or so minutes they had before school.

A few minutes later they were joined by Rachel, who walked over and sat down quietly. "Kole wasn't on the bus again," was the first thing she said.

"Huh?" Vic looked up sharply. "What? How do you know that?"

"I overheard some people on her bus talking about it."

"What were they saying?" Toni asked with her chin on her hands as she looked at her friend with interest.

"You remember Isaiah, the boy you worked with on that geography project?"

Toni nodded mutely, remembering him instantly, and tried not to smile slightly.

"He was talking to his friend, Joseph I think, who signed something about Kole not being on the bus," Rachel said.

"I wonder if it's her uncle again…" Jizelle said thoughtfully. "She told me he'd only just calmed down."

"Well, I guess we'll just have to wait and see," Toni shrugged slightly. Vic groaned.

"Aw man! Does this mean I'm going to be a loner in form!"

"Hey, I usually sit alone in form!" Toni snapped suddenly, making most of the group jump.

"_Usually_?"

"Well…sometimes I sit next to other people…Besides, Kole would have been alone in her form before you came back, and Gabby's in a form on her own."

"Gabby's what?" Gabby asked, seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

"We were just talking about form," Toni explained. "Kole's not in and Vic's complaining about being a loner."

"Kole's not in?" Gabby's eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"Nope. You okay, Kori? You're being real quiet," Jizelle said, looking at the silent Kori with slight concern.

"Yes, I am feeling the perfectly okay," she said a little too brightly. As soon as she had said this, the bell went off, signalling for them to get to form. The group got up and headed toward the school building.

* * *

Just down the road from the school, a teenaged boy with scruffy black hair and blue eyes slouched down the street, hands deep in his pocket. He pulled a pair of sunglasses out of his pocket and put them on as a grin came to his face. He walked casually through the gates to the school and moved across the tarmac, whipping out a piece of paper. After a second, he screwed it up and dumped it back in his jeans pocket and stepped into the school building. As he walked down the corridors, a smirking kid with orange hair waved to him, but he ignored him and carried on through the halls with a purposeful stride.

Roy frowned when he was ignored but merely shrugged to himself and walked slowly to his form, stopping to glance at his reflection in a hand held mirror. He was just checking his hair was still in place. He grinned. It was perfect as ever. He walked casually into Mr Azire's form, late, and sat down in a seat near the back next to Richard.

"Hey Rich," he said in way of greeting, though sounded rather confused. A puzzled look was on his face.

"Hey Roy."

"So, why'd you ignore me just now?" Roy asked, leaning back in his chair with his eyebrows raised. "And how'd you get here so fast?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Just a moment ago, in the corridor. There you are, waltzing down. I wave, you ignore me and suddenly, you're here!"

"I've been here all along, Roy. You must've seen somebody else," Richard insisted.

"Hey, who else parades around the school with sunglasses on?"

"You?" Richard guessed. Roy frowned and touched the sunglasses on his face.

"Besides me!"

Richard paused then shrugged. "I don't know. But it wasn't me you saw!"

"I think I know you when I see you!" he hissed.

"And I think you were mistaken," Richard replied darkly. They glared at each other for a while, the rest of the class completely unaware of the little spat.

"Ah, whatever," Roy growled, looking back at the form teacher who was wittering on about nothing as usual. Richard huffed quietly in annoyance, crossing his arms and looking away.

When form time ended, both boys were up and out first, not looking at each other but still walking next to each other, as both had maths and were in the same class. They neatly moved to their next classroom and sat down, but at opposite sides of the room. Richard sat by himself, near the door, where as Roy dropped himself into a seat next to a girl with dark hair. Wally came in next but before he had walked three steps, Richard had grabbed his sleeve and pulled him down into the seat next to him.

"Uh, why's Roy sitting over there?" was the first thing he asked, looking over at Roy. "Does he smell or something?"

"Yeah, like a _rat_!" Richard muttered.

"Okay…" Wally looked rather confused but said nothing for a few seconds. "So, what were you doing down my end of the school during form?"

"What?"

"Well, I saw you through the door windows of my classroom, just sort of wandering up the corridor."

"I was in form for the _whole_ of form. It must've been someone else." Richard waved it off dismissively.

"You sure?"

"Yes!" Richard sighed, exasperated. "Yes, I'm sure! I can't be in two places at once!"

"But I did see you!" Wally insisted. "Well, he looked like you...Do you have a long-lost brother?"

"No."

"Evil twin?"

"No."

"Cousin? Nephew? Uncle? Some other relative!"

"No!"

"…What about a bionic monkey, injected with some of your DNA…"

"Wally, not helping."

"Okay, sorry! Jeez…" Wally held up his hands in defence. "So, why is Roy sitting over there?"

"Hey! I didn't make him sit over there!"

"Sure ya didn't."

"I didn't, though!"

Their argument went on like that for a while, until they realised their maths teacher was staring at them and quickly ducked their heads, pretending to be innocent. As soon as he had turned his back, they looked down at their work and decided they might as well start. However, on the other side of the room, Roy had other ideas...

.*.*.

"Would it hurt to put that mirror down for one second?" Stormi hissed at Roy, her knuckles white against her pencil as she held it in a death grip.

"I don't know, but I don't want to chance it," Roy smirked, glancing over at her. She growled and sunk down in her seat, glaring. Karen, on her other side, arched an eyebrow at her.

"I hope you're doing the work, Miss Rose-wood?" The teacher was standing right in front of Stormi, looking down at her.

"Of course!" she chimed, sitting up straight and forcing a smile onto her face.

"Good. Now please stop flirting with Mr Harper and get on with it."

She watched him walk away again with a scowl which turned into a snarl when Roy leant over to her and coyly said, "Yeah, stop flirting with me."

"Just put the mirror away."

"Why? How's it annoying you? Scared you'll see your reflection and break it?"

"You," Stormi snapped in a harsh whisper, "are an insufferably idiot. And if you do not put that mirror away and quit annoying me in three seconds I will personally make sure you never have any children!"

"Ooh, I'm so scared," he commented, slightly sarcastically then grinned when she closed her eyes and counted to ten slowly. When she had calmed down, she started to attempt the work they had been set. "So, what's the answer to number one?" Roy asked casually. Stormi twitched. This was going to be a long maths lesson.

* * *

**Break…**

When break time finally came around, Kole had still not come in. The rest of the group were seated around their usual table, talking quietly nothing in particular. It was then that Jizelle realised Kori was no where to be seen.

"Where's Kori?" she asked, interrupting Victor's lecture about something he was inventing at home.

"She's right there," Vic replied, nodding his head at the empty seat next to him then went bug-eyed when he realised that she was, in fact, absent. "Eh?"

"Exactly. I thought she was with you; she had art with you just now."

"I thought she was behind us," Toni commented, glancing around. The outside area was fairly empty, now that the cold weather's first bite had arrived. Her eyes went wide as she noticed Kori talking to someone…someone with dark hair and sunglasses…

.*.*.

"Please, I must return to my friends!" Kori insisted, trying to back away from the boy, who was smirking at her.

"Come on, Cutie. You know you'd rather spend break with me."

"I…um…apologize, but I would much prefer to return to my friends now, please," she squeaked, realising too late that he was backing her up against a wall.

"Well, if you must. But remember, if you ever want some fun you know who to look for…" He smirked at her before walking off casually, his hands in his pockets. Kori stared at him for a second, quite honestly very confused about what had just happened. She then noticed her friends watching her from nearby and quickly began walking toward them, seeking comfort and answers.

"Oh, my friends," she wailed as soon as she arrived. "I am most afraid as to the things that have been told to me."

"What were you talking to Richard for?" Jizelle wanted to know as Kori sat down at an empty space.

"I have not seen Richard for the entire morning so far," she replied, looking around at her friends' faces.

"But you were just talking to him," Toni pointed out.

"I was?" Kori questioned. "I cannot recall conversing with him."

"You were, just now."

"You mean Rory?"

"Rory?" her friends chorused, glancing at each other. Who the heck was Rory?

* * *

**Lunchtime…**

Around two hours later, the students of Jump City High were back outside and in the cafeteria for their lunch break. Among these was Rory Xed.

Rory smirked as he sauntered into the school building. He'd had a strange day; everyone idolised him, let him do and say what he wanted and freely gave him their possessions and food when he asked for them. All of the boys seemed jealous of his good looks and all the girls drooled over him. However, there was a catch. Everybody called him Richard. Why, he did not know. But he didn't care, he liked the attention.

And so he did was Rory his best; he flirted. Whenever he saw a girl he liked the look of, or a bunch of girls, the charming grin would pop out of nowhere and smooth words would tumble from his mouth. Most girls loved it, they revelled in it, especially that blonde one (what was her name? Kat? Kit?) But his latest girl, that red-headed, emerald-eyed girl, had looked rather uncomfortable…odd…

.*.*.

Richard, on the other hand, was having a bad day. For some reason, people were accusing him of doing things he had no recollection of doing. Suddenly, a short, mousey boy scurried up to him, holding up a plate of brownies.

"Here are those brownies I promised, sir!" he squeaked, offering him the plate.

Richard frowned. "Wha-? I never told you to get me brownies."

"Yes! Yes you did, sir!" the boy contradicted. "You commented that the cafeteria food was horrid, which you quickly followed up by cracking a hilariously nasty joke about the cafeteria staff and cookery class. Then I said that a younger year had just been making brownies. Then you requested that I get you some and in return you would let me touch your Motorcycle!"

"Okay…There is something very wrong with that story." The boy looked horrified until Richard cried, "I NEVER ASKED FOR ANY BROWNIES! Now go put those back where you found them!"

"Alright sir," the boy squealed and turned to run off. He turned briefly and asked, "Can I still touch your motorcycle?"

"NO!" Richard yelped, causing the boy to scurry off. He sighed and shook his head. If one more person wrongly accused him, he was going to blow.

"Rich? Seriously, dude?" Wally exclaimed, seemingly appearing out of nowhere.

"What have done now?" he muttered.

"You were flirting with Kitten."

"WHAT! I was not!"

"You were! Roy saw you."

"Oh, he did, did he?"

"Yeah! And now Kitten's telling everyone you're in love with her!"

"But I don't even like her!" Richard cried. "Gah! This is annoying."

"Annoying? It's hilarious" Wally laughed. However, upon seeing Richard's face, quickly added, "Um…I mean, we should ser her straight."

"We should. Let's go," Richard nodded before heading indoors toward the cafeteria, passing a green boy as he did so.

.*.*.

Garfield Logan stopped dead in his tracks. Richard was walking inside…but he'd just seen Richard waltzing up the corridor…what was going on? Nevertheless, he carried on walking when he suddenly realised something. He patted his body all over with a frown on his face, feeling for something. His notebook…it was gone! Perhaps he'd left it in the cafeteria. With a sigh, he turned back and marched indoors.

Gar pushed open the doors to the cafeteria and looked around the crowded space. Where did he last have it? He had it when he went to the drinks dispenser. He had placed it on the table next to it, but couldn't recall picking it up again.

He pushed his way over to the vending machines and looked around, but his notebook wasn't there. Gar panicked; there was some important stuff in that book!

"Ew, Garfield Logan. Where did you, like, say you found it?" Cindy's voice squealed. Gar swung his head around and spotted Cindy sitting with one of her friends, Mandy.

Mandy shrugged in reply. "I, like, found it by the drinks machine thing."

Gar snuck over to the girls then ducked behind a table next to them at which was seated two boys.

"What are you, like, going to do with it?"

"I don't know."

"Well, I, like, think you should, like-" Gar didn't hear the next part of Cindy's sentence, as the two boys began talking.

"I think I've found it!" one exclaimed in a nasally voice. "You forgot to times the square root of sixty-eight by nine before taking away nineteen squared and eight to the power of seven!"

"Of course!" the second moaned. "How could I forget to times our good friend nine!"

_The heck!_ Gar thought in his head as he stared at the fellows. After a second, he turned his attention back to Cindy and Mandy who were deep in discussion.

Mandy pulled out a box one would keep food in as she looked at the book. Cindy stopped talking and watched the box with a look of interest, though it soon turned to one of disgust when Mandy opened it.

"Ugh, celery. Like, gross."

"And what do you think you are doing, Garfield?" One of the boys had spotted Gar and was frowned at him through thick-glassed specs. Gar froze.

"Uhh…bye!" And with that he fled the scene, his head buzzing. _She found my notebook! And she's eating celery! She must have finally realised the horrors of meat! Ha ha! Wait, I never got that notebook back…Eh, I'll get it later. It looks like Mandy's going to need help persuading everyone else that we're right, and so she'll need my notes to guide her._

.*.*.

"Ugh, such a loser," Cindy said, looking up as Gar ran from the cafeteria. "So, like, anyway. About the celery?"

"Well, I, like read that you, like loose calories by eating celery. 'Cause, like, you burn more calories from, like, chewing it than you gain from, like, eating it."

"Whoa. That it, like, totally cool!"

"Yeah! I, like know! I'm going to look, like, so hot in, like, my dress for Kitten's party. So I'm, like, trying to keep off weight in case, like, it doesn't fit me and it's, like, so cute!"

"Like, so is mine!" Cindy bragged. "Wally won't be able to, like, keep his hands, like, off me!"

"That's, like, totally cool!"

"Like, I know!"

.*.*.

"Kitten!" Richard yelled as he stormed down the corridor. Where was that girl?

"Yes, Richie-Poo?" Kitten cooed, turning her head away from Daisy to look at him. Her puckered pink lips donned a wide, flirtatious smile.

Richard's lower eye lid twitched as he shuddered. "Eesh…Kitten! What have you been saying about me!"

"I've not said anything about you, Richie-poo!" she simpered. "But I have told some of my friends how charming you were to me at break…"

"But I didn't talk to you at break!" Richard growled.

"Of course you did! Richie-Poo!"

"I didn't! Stop saying I did and go flirt with your own boyfriend!" he exclaimed then stormed off. However, he turned briefly to yell over his shoulder, "AND QUIT CALLING ME 'RICHIE-POO!'"

.*.*.

As soon as Gar reached his friend's table, he flung himself down on the seat next to Rachel. "Dudes! Mandy Sande is madly in love with me!"

In the time it took Gar to flee the cafeteria and make his way through the crowds to his friends' table, his brain had come up with the following conclusion:

Mandy Sande was madly in love with him.

That's why she had been the one to find his notebook. Her intense love for him had drawn her to it. And it also explained why she had turned to celery. It was to impress him!

"No…" Jizelle said, shaking her head as she looked at him over the top of her sandwich. "She's madly in love with Garth Trident."

"No! She's in love with me!" Gar insisted. "She was eating celery!"

The rest of the group glanced at each other, eyebrows arched. "Uh-huh…so…that makes her in love with you, how?" Rachel asked.

"She's turned vegetarian to impress me!"

"Pfft…" Vic scoffed. "Don't make me laugh, grass stain."

"But she has! And…I'll prove it to you! After school! I'm going to ask her on a date!"

"Gar, no! You'll only get yourself hurt," Toni said.

"But-" Gar began to reply but he was interrupted by Victor who had suddenly leapt to his feet.

"Hey! It's Kole!"

The rest of the group looked over and, sure enough, there was their pink-haired friend, waking toward them, smiling awkwardly. When she reached the table, she waved and sat, but said nothing.

"Hey Kole. So, what made you four hours late for school?" Jizelle wanted to know. Kole shrugged in reply.

"Was it your uncle?" Vic asked, a tad untactful. Kole shook her head.

"Did you miss the bus?" Argent inquired.

"Did you sleep in?" Gabby grinned a little.

But still, Kole shook her head, ever silent.

"I can't take it anymore! Talk! Speak! Say something!" Gar cried, leaping up and shaking Kole's shoulders violently. "It's like that girl in Wicked Scary! She went all silent for a bit before the creature inside her tore off her skin and ate her flesh!"

"There is a creature inhabiting Kole!" Kori howled in horror.

"Looks like it," he said grimly. "I say we get it before it gets us." Kole shook her head vigorously, her eyes wide. "Then talk!" Gar demanded.

"I can't!" she yelped then slapped a hand over her mouth. However, there was something about her pronunciation that was slightly…odd…

"Have you got something on your teeth?" Toni wondered, her eyes narrowing with curiosity. Kole shook her head and pressed her lips together. The rest did not look convinced, but they had no time to state this as, just then, the bell went off, signalling for the students to go in for fifth period.

* * *

**An hour later…**

The corridors were teaming with students and alight with noise. It was the few minutes between periods five and six and the pupils of Jump City High were hurrying between classes, and throwing things in and out of their lockers.

Kole was rushing up the corridor. Her English teacher had gotten quite annoyed with her for not speaking in class when he asked her a question, and had kept her behind for disobedience and other such long words. Now she had to race to one end of the school to get something from her locker then sprint up the other end for maths. The school was quite large, making the task a difficult one.

By the time she had reached her locker and was on her way to her last class of the day, the last few people were disappearing into their classrooms. However whilst she was running up the stairs, a leg jutted out and sent her tumbling back down again, smacking hard against the cold floor. Her school books and equipment spilled from her bag. A high-pitched cackle drifted down from the top of the stairs but gradually faded into silence.

Kole moaned. Her head hurt, her arms hurt, her legs hurt, her teeth hurt…She tried to stand but winced and had to sit. What seemed like hours passed, though in reality it was about fifteen minutes. She could hear nothing…no speaking, no whistling no- wait, were those footsteps? She twisted her body around to see a blond boy walking behind her, heading straight for her, so it seemed. She recognised him as the boy from her form and a few of her classes. What was he doing out of class? She then noticed the guitar case he was holding and remembered he had short guitar session once a fortnight. He always came into Friday, sixth period maths late because of it.

Joseph stopped next to her and knelt down by her side. Kole stared at him for a second before looking down at her foot, her lips pressed together. Then Joseph pulled out a notebook and scribbled something down before tapping her shoulder.

_Are you alright?_

The paper read. Kole started to nod but paused and shook her head instead. Joseph frowned and wrote down something else.

_What happened?_

Kole didn't say anything but instead looked up at the stairs. Joseph didn't ask why she wasn't talking, as he knew full well that she could, but nodded in understanding. He'd been mute for most of his life and was quite apt at understanding body language, signs and gestures. He wrote a new message on the notebook.

_Can you stand?_

Kole shook her head again. Joseph thought for a second before writing,

_Please don't slap me_

_Why would I slap him?_ Kole wondered to herself jut before the boy scooped her up in his arms and held her bridal style. Kole squeaked in surprise and, as a natural reaction, threw her arms around his neck and clung on for dear life. Joseph stumbled slightly but quickly caught himself. Making sure she was secure and wouldn't slip from his grip, he started walking toward the nurse's room.

When they got there, Joseph laid Kole down on the bed before getting the nurse from the office. He then slipped out of the room, leaving Mr Fixit to check Kole over. Five minutes later, he returned with her bag and school stuff but was quickly dismissed and sent back to class.

"Not much of a talker, are you?" Mr Fixit commented. Kole shrugged and looked down. "Joseph told me you fell down the stairs." Mr Fixit was a tall, angular man with a long chin and cheeks with points like right angles. He had a large, hooded forehead and electric blue eyes.

Kole remained silent. My Fixit clicked his tongue to the rood of his mouth. This was going to be a long thirty-five minutes.

.*.*.

Meanwhile, in science, Joseph had only just gotten back. He took a seat next to his friend Isaiah who immediately looked at him with a frown. "Jeez, man. Where were you?"

'_I was helping someone' _Joseph signed in reply. _'I had to take someone to the Nurse's office.'_

"Someone?"

Jericho began signing a few letters very slowly and clearly as Isaiah screwed up his face in concentration.

"K-O-L-E…Kole? Oh yeah, that girl with the…hair…Eh, fair enough. We're looking at the digestive system, so it's probably no bad thing you missed half of the lesson."

Joseph smiled and shrugged then looked up at the board where their teacher was going on about the stomach. Jizelle, Toni, Gabby and Kori sat up a little straighter, having just about heard Isaiah mention Kole's name. So that's where she was…

Suddenly, something hit Isaiah in the back of the head. Growling slightly, he turned in his seat and looked around for the culprit, his eyes coming to rest on Cindy and Mandy at the back. He fixated them with a glare before looking back at the teacher. Cindy and Mandy were giggling as they quietly tore pages from their science work books and scrunched them up, aiming them at a dark haired boy sitting directly in front of them.

Poor Garth Trident. For the duration of the science lesson he had to put up with them pestering him, but he usually managed to ignore it well, and even dodge few shots. However, that last shot, which he had smartly avoided by leaning to the right, had hit Isaiah. Garth sighed as another ball hit his shoulder and, after glancing up front to check the teacher wasn't watching – which she wasn't, being too involved in trying to get her laptop to work – twisted around to frown at the two girls.

"What do you want?" he asked quietly. Mandy and Cindy just tittered girlishly and gave him flirty smiles. He rolled his eyes and looked back at the front. He picked up his pen to write something down when he discovered it wasn't working. He huffed slightly. Of course that would happen…it was his last pen, too. His other three had been leant to Richard, Roy and Wally whose pens had stopped working after their 'pen war' at break. He was about to turn and ask the people behind him for a pen, but remembered who was there and decided against it. He was currently sitting next to a scruffy boy who went by the name of Hamish. He was a very untidy boy, and so it was unlikely he'd have a spare pen, even less so one that Garth would feel comfortable touching.

So, he leant forward and tapped the girl in front of him on the shoulder. Gabby reluctantly turned around and looked at him questioningly.

"Can I borrow a pen?"

Unbeknownst to Garth, Mandy had scrunched up another paper ball and had tossed it just as he'd leant forward, missing him completely and hitting Isaiah again. Growling in frustration, he snatched it up and threw it as hard as he could back. Unfortunately, the teacher chose this moment to look up, her eyes immediately drawn to the back of the class room. Isaiah was in mid throw, a piece of paper – probably containing some sort of message – leaving his hand. Gabby had her back to the front and Garth was leaning forward in discussion with her. Well, at least that was what it looked like to her.

Miss Soft was far from soft. In fact, she was quite hard as teachers go. "ISAIAH, GARTH AND GABBY! What the _heck_ are you doing!"

"Uhh…" All three looked up in alarm at the teacher as the paper ball hit Mandy's head. She shrieked.

"Ah!"

Isaiah laughed at this. The rest of the class sniggered a little. Miss Soft frowned. "The three of you, Principle's office. Now!"

The three of them got up from their seats, their lab stool screeching on the floor, and marched out the classroom. As soon as they were in the corridor, Isaiah laughed again. "Heehee…right on the nose!" he cackled to himself, obviously proud of his aim.

Garth smiled a little then looked down at Gabby, who was looking down. "Erm, sorry about that."

"About what?" she asked, glancing up at him for a second before lowering her eyes again.

"Getting you into trouble."

"It's fine," she shrugged nonchalantly. "I wanted to get out anyway."

"Oh?"

"I'm going to the nurse's," Gabby explained vaguely. Garth's brow furrowed in…worry?

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah. It's my friend, she's in there."

"But you'll get in more trouble if you don't come up," Garth pointed out. She shrugged again and said nothing.

When they got to the stairs, Isaiah and Garth began climbing up where as Gabby slipped away to the nurse's office. When she got there, she peered in the window and saw that Mr Fixit was no where to be seen and so gently opened the door. "Kole?"

Kole looked up and smiled as her friend came in.

"Are you alright?"

She nodded.

"…Are you going to say anything?"

She shook her head.

"Why not?"

She shrugged.

Gabby sighed and rolled her eyes. "Why won't you talk? You were talking yesterday. Is there something wrong with your mouth?"

Kole pressed her lips together but didn't nod or shake her head.

"Hmm…well…you missed Mandy getting a paper ball thrown at her head."

Kole snorted but her mouth remained shut. However, at that moment, the noise of Mr Fixit coming down the hallway sounded. Both girls' eyes went wide. Fixit didn't like people visiting during lesson time, and so he wouldn't be very happy when he found Gabby inside. However, if she tried to slip out now, he would see her escaping. Kole suddenly spotted a small cupboard to the side and shoved Gabby in that direction. She didn't need telling twice and threw herself inside the tight space, leaving the door open just a crack so she would be able to tell when it was safe to come out again.

Mr Fixit strolled into the room and walked over to Kole. "Do you feel any better?" Kole shook her head. "Are you okay? You look anxious." She nodded in reply. Mr Fixit frowned, unconvinced. He was known to be suspicious of students, ever since one kid claimed to have caught a rare disease and had led him to believe it. Kole looked away uneasily. She had to get him out of the room, or at least so his back was to the door and cupboard. Perhaps she could make him get something for her? Yes, that was a good idea. Water: that would be a good place to start.

Holding a cupped hand to her mouth, she began pretending to cough. Fixit frowned deeper.

"Do you need a drink?"

Kole nodded, still pretending to cough. Then she realised that the sink was by the cupboard Gabby was in. Fixit filled a cup with water and gave it to her. Kole took it and started drinking whilst thinking up something else she might possibly need. When she had finished the water, she put her hand on her head and moaned loudly and melodramatically.

Fixit sighed. "You have a headache?" Kole nodded. The nurse turned and walked toward the cupboard and, with a jolt of horror, she realised that the painkillers were in the cupboard where Gabby was! She pressed her lips together and looked around for something to make him stop. She slammed her hand down on the bed and hit her cup against the legs, but to no avail. He was bending down now and reaching for the handle, when Kole decided the only thing to do was to speak.

"Wait!"

"What?" The nurse asked, looking up. His hand was on the handle, ready to pull open the door.

Kole paused then said, "Um…actually, my head feels fine. I don't need a painkiller."

Mr Fixit straightened up again, fixing Kole with a look of annoyance. "So you can talk."

"Uhh…well…" she said trailed off, not sure what to say. "I just didn't want to…"

"You didn't want to talk."

"Well…it hurt, see. 'Cause…I just got braces…" Kole admitted dolefully. She wasn't usually one to get embarrassed, but for some reason the thought of people seeing the ugly metal wires on her teeth made her feel awkward and self conscious. Of course, it didn't really hurt. She just didn't want to admit that she was embarrassed by her braces.

"I see. When did you get them?"

"Today."

"I think I may be able to help…I may be a few minutes," Mr Fixit said. He then walked across the room and disappeared through a small door. Kole sighed in relief and looked back at the cupboard. Gabby, slow and testing, pushed the door open and peered around.

"I thought he was never going to leave," she mumbled, climbing out and stretching.

"Heh…" Kole chuckled sheepishly then fell silent one more.

"So, why didn't you tell us you had braces?"

"Uhh…well…" Kole paused, unsure of what to say. "I just…kind of…didn't want to…"

"Well, let's see then!"

Kole frowned at her then hesitantly pulled her lips back and showed bared her teeth. Across the top row were two metal wires, lined with plastic studs in two shades of blue. After a second, she covered them up again.

"Ah, they're not that bad…Anyway, I need to go. I'm meant to be at the Principle's office…" Gabby grinned sheepishly.

"What did you do?"

"Absolutely nothing. Bye!" Waving a little, but talking quietly, Gabby slipped out of the room and, a few seconds later, broke out into a run.

.*.*.

"I'm telling you, it's not true!" Richard cried, exasperated. Kitten was convinced he had flirted with her and claimed to have witnesses. People constantly came up to him demanding to know how and why he kept changing his clothes, and if it was true he had a skull and red 'X' tattooed on his back.

"Aw. Richie, please!" Wally begged. "It sounds cool!"

"If I had a tattoo, I would show you. But I don't, so I won't."

The red-haired boy pouted. "Aww…you're no fun."

"Grrr…" Richard growled, gritting his teeth.

"Huh? Uh…well I mean…come on, Richie! Let's go find out what's been going on! We'll need binoculars, ink, paper, magnifying glasses and a spoon."

"And just how is a spoon going to help you factorise these quadratic equations, Wallace?" asked their maths teacher. Richard and Wally were currently in Maths and were meant to be completing the questions in the thick text book in front of them.

"Um…well…"

"Stop fooling around and work."

Wally huffed as he walked off but a second later was back to talking to Richard. "Where was I? Oh yeah, spoon. I say we sneak out of here and use the binoculars to find the other you. Then compare finger prints and hair samples to see if it's you! If he's not you then you're sane. If he is then you have issues."

"And just how are we going to get out of class?" Richard asked.

"You two!" their teacher cried. "If you talk once more then it's straight to the Principle's office!"

Wally suddenly grew a wide, impish grin. Richard frowned, recognising the glint in his eye. Wally was up to something. "Don't even think about it…"

"SO I SAID-"

"WALLY!"

"RICHARD! PRINCIPLE'S OFFICE! NOW!"

Glaring darkly at his friend, Richard slouched out of the room and down the corridor, heading for the Principle's office. He threw himself into a seat outside, between Garth and a dark-skinned boy.

"So, did they finally catch you for sneaking vodka in?" Isaiah Crockett asked. His voice was blunt.

"What are you talking about? Richard hissed.

"Well, you've been going around, offering people vodka in return for…I don't know, something."

"No I haven't!" Richard returned, wide eyed. He looked at Garth for some form of back up.

"He hasn't," he said, catching the look. "Well, at least I don't think he has."

Isaiah frowned then leant back in his seat and looked at the clock.

"We might be here a while," Garth said to Richard. "The kid that's in there now's been in there for ages. Their parents arrived a couple of minutes ago, too."

Richard arched his eyebrows in interest. "Hm. Really?"

"Yep. There's been a lot of yelling, too."

A minute later, Gabby silently slinked in and perched on the edge of the last available seat. Her cheeks were stained pink and she was breathing a little deeper than usual. Garth looked like he wanted to say something but just then the door opened. A man and woman marched out, followed by a boy with scruffy black hair and blue eyes twinkling beneath sunglasses.

Richard and Rory locked eyes for a second, surprised at how much they looked like each other. Then, Rory smirked and carried on after his parents. Richard swallowed and looked up at the head teacher who was looming over him.

"Yes, I've been meaning to talk to you," he said. "Rory has just told me that you've been bribing students with alcohol…"

* * *

**After school…**

"So, you're saying that all those things you did weren't actually you?" Roy summarised.

"Yes," Richard nodded. "It was some kid called Rory who just happened to look like me. But he's gone now."

"What was he doing here in the first place?"

"Well, his parents were going to send him here as they've just moved to the area. And he was meant to be having a tour today, but his mum and dad didn't come in for some reason, and he decided to take the tour himself."

"Well that's going to be confusing," Wally commented. "Two Richards running 'round the place."

"Rory's not going to come here. Sir's already expelled him," Richard replied with a smirk. Roy, Wally and Garth laughed as the four of them boarded the waiting bus.

A few meters away, by the school entrance, Kitten, Cindy, Daisy and Mandy were having a giggle over Gar's notebook when the boy himself approached them.

He cleared his throat then said, in a deeper voice than usual, "Hey…" The four girls looked over at him. "I think you have something that belongs to me…"

"Ugh. We're, like, not finished with it yet, loser," Kitten shrilled. Gar frowned.

"But," he started though stopped when he saw the harsh looks they were giving him. An expression of hurt passed over his face as he looked to Mandy. Surely she would stick up for him? But no, she was cackling away with the rest of them.

Still, it's like that had his diary or anything - heck, it's not like he even had a diary – but come of the doodles and scribbles in the margins were quite private and personal.

"Ha! You sound like such a desperate freak!" Cindy giggled.

"Tara Markov! You seriously think she liked you?" Daisy hollered.

Gar flinched. That hurt. Tara Markov, his first crush. He thought she liked him too and even went out with him for a bit. A month later, it was revealed that the whole thing was just a joke and the rest of the school was laughing at him behind his back. Tara had moved away a year ago and the scar she had ripped in his hear had healed.

"Aw, you gonna cry, loser?" Kitten screeched.

"Shut up," Gar growled. Their laughter subdued slightly. "I said shut up!"

Kitten and her crew glanced at each other with raised eyebrows, surprised at his sudden explosion.

"Hm. What_ever_!" she shrieked then chucked the book on the ground at his feet. She and her friends began walking away leaving Gar to pick up the book and watch them go.

"Hey, Mandy!" he called suddenly.

"Ugh. What do you, like want?"

"Why were you eating celery at lunch?"

"Oh em gee. You are, like, such a stalker." With a look of disgust, she turned on her heel and carried on walking. Gar sighed. His friends were right; of course she didn't fancy him. He had been stupid to think she had.

Tucking his notebook under his arm, he marched toward the bus and hopped on just before it left. He picked his way to the back, his head down and ears drooped then slumped down on the last seat at the back, hoping his friends wouldn't pick up on the hurt expression on his face. Luckily, they didn't.

"Hey, Gar!" Vic grinned. "Guess what?"

"Um…Monkey robots from the future blew up the math department?" he replied hopefully.

"Nope!" Jizelle smirked. "You know Kole was being all weird and quiet at lunch?"

"You got the creature out of her?"

Toni smacked his head lightly. "There wasn't a creature in her."

"It turned out she got braces!" Jizelle explained.

"Wha-?" Gar blinked. "Really?"

"Yep!" Toni nodded. "We were talking to her and Gabby about it after school. You wouldn't believe what stuff Mr Fixit keeps in his cupboard…"

* * *

**END!**

**Yeah, that took a LOT longer than planned…sorry about that. And I apologise if it's jumpy and hard to follow…eh…And also je désole if the characters were out of character…I'm rusty with them. And another thing, I am English. American school punishments are somewhat…different, and so if the Principle's office thing was too harsh or would happen, I'm sorry. I only used what I got from TV. So don't hound me about it, just explain what would have been a better punishment for future reference.**

**And another thing, this chapter was originally going to be called 'Diets, Dopplegangers and Dental Appointments'...but FF wouldn't let me 'cause it was too long. Humph!**

**Review please! (No, seriously, review. I think all of my readers have abandoned me so I want to know if people are still reading my stuff…)**


	9. Chapter 8: LoveMan Begins

**HOT SAUSAGE! New chapter, dudes! Finally. This is kinda long, heh, and this is really where couples and crushes start to happen... I didn't want everything to go too fast to begin with, but I don't want it to go so slowly that I run out of ideas, or so slowly that it's unlikely any couple will like each other by the time the 'big finale' comes. **

**So, yeah. This is a bit of a manic chapter; several things going on at once…some randomness, some sweetness, some friendship and some realisations. It's all inside this happy meal!**

**(For the record, I don't own McDonalds…I hate that stuff.)**

**I don't own the Teen Titans. (If I did, do you really think they would have cancelled the show?) But I do own two OCs, and possibly some of the teachers, I forget. Oh, and I own a bunch of toy cats who helped me write some chapters. HUZZAH!**

**Read and review please!**

* * *

It was Monday the 28th of October. In the depths of a cramped, dirty bedroom, an alarm clock began to wail, signalling the occupant that it was seven o'clock and time to get up. But Garfield Logan was already up.

Gar sat in the middle of his room, on a small pocket of tidiness amongst a sea of mess. He was staring intently at a small notebook in front of him. He was still aching from the Mandy ordeal on Friday, and had been brooding over it for the entire weekend, but the more he brooded, the more depressed he got. And the more depressed he got, the more he brooded. It was a vicious circle.

His adoptive mother, Rita Farr, was getting worried about him. He couldn't blame her, though. His eyes were developing dark circles giving him a constantly tired look, and he spent most of his time in his room, staring blankly at the ceiling.

He wasn't upset over Mandy herself, no way. It was the entire idea that hurt him. It was the sudden realisation that for him, a proper relationship may not ever be possible. The void created between people like him, and 'normal' people was too great and exaggerated.

Gar blinked and rubbed his head. All that deep thinking was making his head hurt…and was making him hungry. Just then Rita stuck her head in the door.

"Gar, honey. It's time to- oh, you're awake."

Gar nodded silently, pretending that this was a completely normal occurrence, which it wasn't. Gar never woke up at seven, or there about, without some prodding from Rita or Steve.

"You feeling okay?" she asked. Again, Gar nodded. Rita sighed before disappearing. She went downstairs to the kitchen where her boyfriend, Steve Dayton, was reading the newspaper.

"He getting up, then?" Steve asked gruffly. Rita nodded and bit her lip.

"I wish he'd tell us what's wrong," she said. "I hate seeing him like this."

"He's a teenager, Rita. He was bound to go through a bit of angst at one point or another."

A few minutes later, Gar emerged in the doorway, but didn't enter the kitchen. He watched Rita place her hand on Steve's shoulder and felt a wave of sadness wash over him.

And then it hit him.

If he couldn't have a love life, then why couldn't he help others with theirs? That's what he would do; he'd make sure that what happened to him wouldn't happen to everyone else. They'd get their 'happy endings', and he would get his through making them happen.

With a grin on his face – the first grin he'd worn in two days – he sat down at the table and flashed his adoptive parents a smile.

"Good morning," he said brightly, internally laughing at the looks on Steve and Rita's faces.

**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ -**

Garfield was at the bus stop quite early. In fact, he was the first one there. He pulled out his notebook – of which many pages had been ripped out, leaving it with only blank sheets – and a pen. He licked the end of the pen before writing.

_Match making plans_

And that was as far as he got, as he had no idea who to get together. He sat there for some time, staring blankly at the page as the bus stop slowly filled with students, but he was still stuck. However, as luck would have it, Jizelle chose that moment to show up at the bus stop.

"Morning Gar," she said, glancing down at his notebook. "What'cha doing?"

"Er, nothing!" Gar said quickly, shutting the notebook. "Hey Jizelle."

"Yo, grass stain! How come you've not been returning my calls?" Vic asked as he approached the two.

"Uh, heh, sorry Vic," Gar apologised. "I've been thinking a lot lately."

"Thinking!" Jizelle and Vic stared at him, then at each other, and then at him again.

"Am I hearing this right?" Jizelle wanted to know, scratching her head.

"Yep!" he replied proudly. "I've been thinking."

"Well, if you could do that in class more often, you wouldn't have to keep copying my work," Toni commented as she arrived.

Gar waved her off. "Yeah, yeah, yeah…"

Kori soon arrived, bright and cheerful as ever, and proceeded to tell them of her adventures from over the weekend, including the long and thorough search for the TV remote underneath the sofa. Soon, they all climbed onto the bus, and sat in their usual places at the back.

Whilst his friends complained about English ("He wants us to do three essays by Friday! Ridiculous!" Toni cried) Gar had taken out his notebook again and was scanning the bus, looking for his first victims.

Five minutes later, he was still staring blankly at the page. The bus stopped and a few more people trooped on. Gar watched them come on, and then his eyes locked with Wally West's.

Slowly, a wide smirk snaked its way across his face as his eyes turned to look at Jizelle next to him. She hadn't noticed Gar's grin, or the way Wally was staring at her. She was much more interested in discussing Kitten's choice of clothing (a bright white top and a skirt that was an interesting shade of pink with matching shoes). His notebook now read,

_Match making plans_

_Jizelle & Wally West_

Gar spent the rest of his journey leant over his notebook, jotting things down and mumbling to himself.

**Later, at form time…**

In Miss Periwinkle's form/homeroom, Gar had made sure he was sitting next to Jizelle and was asking her some very strange questions.

"So, Jizelle. What would your ideal date be?"

"What?" Jizelle said bluntly, frowning.

"What would your idea date be?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"For…reasons," he replied. "…So, candlelit dinner or a romantic walk?"

Jizelle gave him a small growl. "If you don't explain to me right now what this is about, then I'm going to-"

But she was cut off from what she was saying as the speakers on the walls fizzled into life and relayed this message:

_All students must make their way down to the Assembly hall for a special announcement. Thank you._

"You heard, class. Line up at the door and I'll take you down," Miss Periwinkle said as the students stood and rushed to the door. They squashed themselves into what was more a crowd than a line, shoving and pushing and whispering excitedly. The teacher didn't seem to realise and led the group down to the hall.

"I wonder what is happening," Kori mused as she walked beside her friends.

"Must be important," Rachel said. "Otherwise they'd schedule the assembly for tomorrow."

When they reached the assembly hall, they found about three quarters of the school already there. The form filed into an empty row of seats and carried on talking whilst they waited for everyone else to arrive.

"Hey guys!" Wally said brightly, sitting down behind Roy and Richard, who were in the row in front.

"Hey," they responded casually.

"Where's Garth?" Richard asked, glancing around the hall.

"I don't know," Roy said. He glanced up at Wally, but his friend was too busy staring at something – or someone – to notice. That is, until, Roy and Richard began poking him.

"Wally? Wally? WALLY!" Richard exclaimed. Wally yelped in surprise, shoving Richard forward in defence. The boy yelped as his head snapped forward and his forehead collided with the top of someone else's head.

Kori squeaked when she felt something hit her head. She, Jizelle, Gar and Rachel all turned as one to see Roy and Wally laughing their heads off at Richard, who was rubbing his now sore forehead.

"Ow!" he moaned, glaring at his hysterical friends. He then looked forward at Kori. "Sorry," he said, giving her a sincere, apologetic smile. The four of them stared at him for a few seconds before Kori returned the smile and waved it off, saying that she was "Quite unharmed."

A few minutes later, the assembly started. A few teachers standing at the sides of the hall silenced the school as a man walked out at the front. He was tall and well built, with slicked-back hair and a strong jaw. He wore over his right eye an eye patch, but his other was a cold, steely grey.

A delicate smile spread over his face as he regarded the people before him. "Good morning," he said calmly. His voice was light, but demanded respect. Any of the students still whispering amongst themselves stopped. "I am Mr. Wilson, and I am your new Head Master."

A wave of whispers and murmurs rippled through the crowds.

"That can't be right! What about Mr. Mallah?"

"Would've heard something about this before, surely."

"Why's he got an eye patch?"

"SILENCE!" Mr. Wilson yelled. The school went quiet. Mr. Wilson smiled again. "As I was saying, I am your new Head Teacher, and whilst I am here, there will be a few…changes to this school. You may be wondering where your previous Principal is. Needless to say, he left for…personal reasons."

The glint in his eye unnerved many of the students and they began to ask themselves, _were the reasons those of Mr. Mallah…or Mr. Wilsons?_

Mr. Wilson, it turned out, didn't have too much to say. He talked to them for a few minutes about respect and such, but let them go a few minutes early for first period, and so the students of Jump City High talked up a storm in the corridors.

"Do you know him, Joseph?" Isaiah asked his friend as soon as they had left the hall. Joseph shook his head; he'd never seen the man in his life. "Weird that you two have the same surname."

_Wilson's a common name,_ Joseph signed.

"Yeah, I guess," Isaiah replied, shrugging. "Still, it'd be cool if he was your long lost father or something."

Joseph just nodded in agreement.

**In Science**

Richard, Roy and Wally were, surprisingly, first into science, and sauntered to the back of the class room. They were followed closely by Gar, Vic and Rachel. Gar noticed, to his joy, that the seat next to Wally West was empty and so quickly sat down next to him. Vic and Rachel, sitting at the desk in front, were highly surprised at this.

Cindy Mint pouted when she saw Gar next to _her _Wally and stalked off to find Kitten, which prompted Wally to grin in relief and shoot Gar a very quick look of thanks. Gar almost fell out of his seat. Vic had twisted around and was giving Gar a questioning look, which the green boy caught before shrugging.

"Research," he whispered.

Throughout the lesson, he doodled on his science worksheets, all the time eavesdropping inconspicuously on Richard, Roy and Wally's conversation.

"So, weird new head teacher, eh?" Richard commented.

"Yeah. I mean, he has an eye patch. Can't trust a man with an eye patch," Wally laughed.

"Or with that hair," Roy added, grinning.

"Like you can talk, _Leroy_," Wally said.

Roy's hands flew to his head. "Take that back, _Wallace Rudolph West_."

Gar snorted in laughter, but quickly hid this as a bad cough. Wally didn't notice; he was too busy glaring at Roy.

"Hey! We agreed to never mention that!"

"Mention what, _Rudolph_?"

"Not funny!"

**Meanwhile, in maths…**

"Gar is up to something," Jizelle told Kori and Toni, who were sitting in front of her. "I know it."

"What makes you say that?" Toni asked, glancing behind her whilst the teacher was listening to another kid giving him the answer to a question.

"He was asking me weird questions in form."

"About?"

"About ideal dates and stuff." She shook her head. "It was weird."

"Perhaps Gar has 'the feelings' for you, and wishes to engage you in an intimate relationship!" Kori suggested happily.

"Ew, no way."

"Huh? Gar's going to ask you out?" Kole asked, leaning forward from her seat behind Jizelle. Gabby, who sat next to Kole, dropped her pencil in shock.

"No! He's not!" Jizelle snapped. "And even if he did, I wouldn't say yes. He's a good friend and all that, but-"

"Perhaps _you'd_ like to give me the answer, Miss Hexe?" Jizelle and her friends' heads snapped up to see some of the students were staring at them. The teacher was giving Jizelle a stern look.

"Uh…" Her eyes darted to the board to try and work out what the question was, but her effort was fruitless. Swallowing her pride she said, "Um, what was the question?"

The teacher sighed, shaking his head, and repeated the question. After answering it, she looked at the clock; just an hour and a half until break.

_I hate double maths on a Monday._

**At Break**

Gar, Vic and Rachel were walking down the corridor, on their way to the cafeteria, complaining about science, when Gar looked down and sighed melodramatically.

"Aw man!" he cried. "My shoelace isn't done up! I'll have to retie it!" he said, bending down and looking at his trainers. He glanced at Rachel and Vic with apologetic looks. "You go on without me, I'll catch you up."

"…Okay…" Rachel arched an eyebrow at him before walking off, Vic following. Gar smirked and stood up. From his pocket he took a piece of paper and began counting lockers to find the right one. Stopping at one in particular, he slid the note into it via the gap by the door and walked off.

**Meanwhile**

"Gar's up to something," Rachel said as soon as she reached her friends' table. Jizelle smirked in triumph.

"I knew it," she said, shooting looks at Kori, Toni, Kole and Gabby. "I told you he was up to something."

"What makes you say that, Rachel?" Toni asked, ignoring Jizelle.

"In the corridor he 'stopped to do up his shoe lace' when his trainers have Velcro, and both were done up," Rachel said.

"…He really needs to start using his brain," Kole commented.

"He has one?"

"Ah, don't be so mean…he just doesn't think things through sometimes," Toni said with a sigh.

**Elsewhere**

Garfield, meanwhile, had entered the air vents via the grill in the Janitor's closet, where he found the grill slightly loose. He crawled along through the metal tube, mapping out the school in his head. Underneath him, students were beginning to get unnerved by the clattering coming from the walls and ceiling.

Eventually he found himself at the grill in the boys' bathroom and stayed there, waiting for someone to enter.

Finally, to his luck, his target entered – alone.

Wally West was quite confused at first. The bathroom was quiet and empty, or so he thought, when he heard a voice.

"Wally…Wally…"

"…Yeah?" Wally said uncertainly, glancing around. The cubical doors were open and the main room was devoid of people.

"I know about it…"

"About what?"

"I know about your feeeeelings…" Gar hissed, hidden in the shadows of the air vents. The metal tubes made his voice echo in an eerie manner.

"My…feelings? Roy, is that you?"

"I am not he…"

Wally sighed and shook his head, and was about to leave when the voice spoke again, quite urgently. "Wallace Rudolph West, cease!"

Wally froze in his tracks. How did the voice know his full name?

"I know about your feelings…for Jizelle Hexe…"

Now Wally was really confused. It was bad enough the voice knowing about his embarrassing name, but it also knew that he had feelings for Jizelle? He was getting very worried.

"What do you want?" Wally asked suspiciously.

"I want nothing," the voice replied mysteriously, "But to help…"

"Help?"

"Yes. Help you with your yearning desire for Jizelle. At 3.15 this afternoon, after school, she will be by the bike shed. Go to her, and confess your feelings!"

"But…how do you know she'll be there?"

"I just know these things…"

There was a moments silence as Wally looked around him in wonder. Finally, he asked the question. "Who are you?"

"Just call me…the Love-Man…"

**Later, in English…**

Kori, Jizelle, Gar, Kole and Gabby trooped into the English classroom. As soon as Kole sat down, Jizelle threw herself in the seat next to her, obviously anxious not to be stuck next to Gar again, after the odd form time she'd had. That and the odd looks he'd been giving her during the last few minutes of break.

But Gar didn't seem in the slightest bit affected by this and calmly sat down behind them, next to Kori, earning him a _look_ from Gabby who had just been about to sit there. He sent her a grin as she took a seat behind them.

The next two people to enter the classroom were Garth and Mandy Sande. And for some strange reason beyond Gabby's comprehension, he made a beeline for the seat next to her. Mandy sent her a particularly sour look and flounced off. Gabby shook her head and rolled her eyes. So much fuss over nothing…

_Well, maybe not __**nothing**__, _she thought to herself, looking over at Garth. He was, in fact, a very good-looking person.

Feeling eyes on him, Garth turned his head in Gabby's direction, just as she realised she was staring and looked away. She put her elbow on the desk and her head on her hand, facing away from him and cutting herself off from him. She glanced forward and saw Gar looking at her with a wide smirk, and thought only one thing:

_What's he up to?_

**Fourth period, Music**

"Okay, class. We're moving onto a new section of work today," the music teacher told her class, smiling. There was a silent cheer as they were finally moving away from the boring Baroque period of music. "This time, we'll be learning about Reggae music. Does anyone know what Reggae is?"

After a quick question, answer section, the music teacher decided that research was in order. She placed a large pile of books about Reggae music on the front desk and sorted the class into groups of four.

"Garfield, Rachel, Toni and Kole, you four are together. Kori, Victor…Richard and Roy, you four are a group…"

As the teacher spoke, she pointed the students to where they would be working. Kori and Vic waved to their friends before picking up their bags and walking toward the desk Richard and Roy were at.

The two boys were, as usual, wearing sunglasses and smirks. They didn't even bother to look at them when Kori and Vic sat down. When she had sorted everyone into groups, the teacher handed out a few books and worksheets. Each group got one double-sided work sheet full of questions for them to answer.

Kori, Vic, Richard and Roy stared at the paper before Richard spoke up. "I think that two of us should write the answers, and the other two can do research."

"I call writing," Roy said.

"Same," added Richard. Kori and Vic sighed.

"We'll do research," he said. They soon got to work. Richard and Vic worked on one side of the paper, and Roy and Kori did the other side, but things weren't going as smoothly as planned.

"You need to write a bit smaller," Vic said, frowning at Richard as he wrote down one of the answers.

"You need to condense the answer a bit," Richard replied, also frowning. Vic huffed and fell silent, but then jabbed his finger at the paper.

"That's wrong," he exclaimed. Richard's pen slipped, drawing a black line across his work.

"Hey! What was that for?"

"You wrote it down wrong!"

"You must have said it wrong!"

Vic growled. "See what you've done! Now there's ever less space for the answer!" he complained.

"Do you have a problem?" Richard scowled.

"Yeah," Vic replied. "It's four-feet tall and smells like cheap hair gel!"

"Would you two keep it down? I'm trying to work," Roy said, pulling a comb through his fringe. This, however, only caused the two to start arguing even louder.

**Meanwhile…**

Rachel, Gar, Toni and Kole had been using a similar technique. Toni and Kole were doing one side, whilst Rachel and Gar were doing the other.

"This is boring," Gar complained, flipping through his book. Rachel didn't reply; she was more interested in reading the other questions to see if there were any she could answer already. There weren't, though, as Reggae wasn't a type of music she was well-versed with. Gar sighed and, purely out of boredom, poked Rachel's arm.

The girl looked up and gave him a blunt look. "What?"

"…Nothing…" Gar said, twiddling this thumbs and acting innocent.

"Aren't you meant to be looking something up," she said, observing his fidgeting.

"Uhh…probably…" There was a pause as they locked eyes. "…What was the question again?"

Rachel groaned and shook her head.

**In art…**

Jizelle and Gabby sat next to each other, silently mixing paint, sometimes murmuring small compliments or bits of advice (most of which came from Jizelle, who was the better artist of the two). They were currently doing 'still life' and everyone had been given a vase of flowers, a bowl of fruit or an assortment of objects to draw. Jizelle – to her slight amusement – was drawing a few roses in a vase. The vase was tall, thin and white, and held about four pink and white roses. Gabby was painting a yellow teapot and a string of pearls.

A few rows in front, Wally and Garth were sharing a large bowl of wax apples and pears. However, neither was taking much interest, and just stared blankly at the few pencil lines on their papers. Garth suddenly nudged Wally with his elbow to get his attention.

"What's up, Wally? You've been acting really weird since break."

"Huh? Oh, nothing. I've just been…thinking, that's all."

"About…?"

"Uh, I'd rather not talk about it," Wally said, trailing off and blushing slightly. Garth arched an eyebrow at the sudden pink hue.

"It's about a girl." It wasn't a question, it was a fact.

"…No," Wally replied, unconvincingly. "I've just been thinking about…stuff." He kept his head bowed, staring at his work. He knew that if he took even the smallest glance up, he'd see Garth's 'I know you're lying' face and would crumble immediately.

Luckily, Wally was saved from further interrogation by a simpering Mandy coming up to their table. She held a tube of blue paint and offered it to Garth.

"Could you open this for me, please?" she asked with a sickly sweet smile. Garth, nodding quickly, took the tube and easily unscrewed the lid. He handed it back without a word. Mandy gave him a (slightly forced) smile of thanks and flounced off, back to her table and her orange bowl of wax strawberries – completely devoid of blue.

"You call this art?"

The voice made both boys jump and almost fall off their seats. They swung their heads around to see their substitute teacher scrutinizing their work. Their usual, kind-hearted art teacher had been temporarily replaced by little-patience Mr. Gray.

He frowned deeply, causing his whole face to wrinkle, and shook his head. "You boys need to start working and stop chatting," he said and walked off, most likely to bear down the neck of some other poor, unsuspecting student.

**Back in Music…**

When Richard, Vic and Roy had stopped arguing, thanks to some mediation by Kori, they had decided to swap roles around a bit. Kori and Roy were now writing, with Victor researching for Roy, and Richard researching for Kori. They were now working much more efficiently.

"Bob Marley was born in…1945 in Nine Mile, St Anne Parish," Richard said. Kori found the corresponding question and quickly wrote the answer down.

"What was the name of the Reggae band Marley started up," Kori read from the paper.

"Uhh…Bob Marley and the Wailers," Richard replied after only a few seconds. Kori frowned.

"Oh…why were they so upset?"

"Huh?"

"Why was Bob Marley's band upset?" Kori asked, her green eyes bright and wide. Richard fell silent, staring at her.

Finally, he found his voice and said, "I don't think they were upset…"

"But then why would they wail?"

Richard couldn't help but smile slightly. "I don't think they meant it like that…It's just a name."

"Oh." Kori paused before writing it down, muttering, "Curious," under her breath.

"They were also known as the Teenagers, the Wailing Rudeboys and the Wailing Wailers," Richard said with a small laugh, shaking his head. Kori looked up in surprise.

"You are certain they suffered from no form of depression?"

"I'm sure," Richard told her with a smile.

**At Lunch**

The art class was let out late, thanks to the lack of work from most of the class. In fact, the only person Mr. Gray was happy with was Jizelle, who squirmed slightly in her seat when he drew the class's attention to 'the real sense of texture' in her work.

Jizelle and Gabby left the classroom last. The corridors were only slightly full, and both needed to drop off some of their art things in their lockers. Jizelle was about to close her locker door when she noticed a small piece of folded paper next to her science book. She picked it up, flicked it open and began reading.

_Jizelle…_

_Meet me by the bike shed after school. _

_xxx_

Jizelle frowned at the note and slammed her locker shut. She marched over to Gabby, who was a little way down the corridor at her own locker, and thrust the note in her face. "Look what I found."

Gabby read it over with her head cocked to the side, and held up a similar note. "That's odd. I got one too."

Jizelle requested to see it, and so Gabby handed it over.

_Gabrielle…_

_Meet my by the fountain today, after school._

_xXx_

"Well?" Gabby asked, watching Jizelle's sceptical face carefully.

"I don't know; sounds kind of suspicious to me."

"So, we shouldn't go?" she said, fidgeting her fingers.

"I wouldn't," Jizelle said and folded her arms.

"But, what if they're genuine? The person would be really hurt." Gabby looked down, already feeling guilty.

"But Gabby…"

"But what if!"

Jizelle sighed. "Fine, I'll go. But, we should both keep our guards up, it could be a joke and you don't want to give the culprit something to laugh at."

Gabby nodded, happy.

**Meanwhile…**

"Give me back the shades, West!" Roy yelled, trying to snatch his beloved sunglasses back from his friend, who was grinning cheekily.

"No, I don't think I will. You'll just have to live with normal vision for a change," Wally replied. Richard laughed but soon stopped when Wally turned his smirk to him. "Like you can laugh, Rich."

"Yeah, I can, actually," Richard said whilst trying not to look at the weird pasta dish he was eating. Wally frowned. Richard was on the other side of the table, and therefore he couldn't reach over to steal his glasses.

"Garth! Nick Rich's glasses for me, would ya?"

"Hm?" Garth, whose mind had been elsewhere, looked up sharply.

"Steal Rich's glasses!" Wally repeated with a small grunt, as Roy had pretty much tackled him in attempt to take back his shades.

Garth looked at Richard who had leapt to his feet, glaring at his friend. "Don't even think about it."

Wally frowned. "You're no fun."

Garth's mind, however, had gone elsewhere again. Most likely to his pocket where a folded up piece of paper sat, the piece of paper he'd found in his locker after art, telling him to meet an unnamed person by the fountain after school. At first he'd thought it was Mandy, but the more he thought about it, it wasn't really her style.

The person who'd written obviously knew something about remaining anonymous; as the note had been written very carefully in block capitals, showing very little character and leaving Garth with no clue as to who had written it.

**Later**

It was the end of lunch time. Kori, Gar, Vic, Jizelle, Toni and Kole were heading off to drama when Kole stopped. "I think I left my jacket at the table," she said. "You guys go on without me, I'll catch up."

Her friends merely nodded before walking on. Kole turned and headed back to their table. When she had retrieved her jacket and was walking through the cafeteria to drama, she found herself suddenly surrounded.

"Hey there, Little Miss Freak," Givon sneered with a smirk on his round face.

"Whatever," Kole mumbled, trying to push past them. But she her way was blocked by Mammoth and walked into him.

"Oof!"

The other students, still milling around, slowly making their way to fifth period, didn't take any notice of what was going on.

"Mammoth, here, didn't get his German homework done, so we've decided he can have yours," Givon said as Billy reached for her bag.

"He should learn to do it himself," Kole replied, stepping away from Billy and frowning.

Givon's laughter stopped short. "Are you wearing braces?"

Kole fell silent. The HIVE five burst into laughter.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"Metal mouth!" Seymour cackled.

"Brace face!" Billy snorted.

Kole tried to run and get away from them, but everywhere she turned, she was blocked off. The bullies were coming closer, yelling taunts and names.

"Leave me alone," Kole mumbled weakly, but this made them laugh harder.

"Daw, is baby scared of the meanie HIVE five?" Seymour teased cruelly.

Then Mammoth raised his arm and swung, smacking her across the face. She cried out in pain but there weren't many people left to hear. Through the gap between Arhiman and Givon she saw Kitten giving her a superior look. Billy raised a leg to kick her. Kole squeezed her eyes shut and a second later, his foot slammed into her stomach, winding her and sending her to her knees.

She cracked her eyes open a little too see another punch coming her way, but it never hit. Kole opened her eyes fully to see Joseph Wilson holding back Billy's fist, and somehow managing to keep it back. His usually soft and kind eyes were narrowed in anger, a look that was alien on his face. Billy took his fist back, rubbing his knuckles and glaring daggers at Joseph, but the blond boy had turned his attention to Kole, looking concerned.

All of a sudden, a fist swung around and smacked him in the jaw. A trickle of blood ran down his chin.

Then Givon began rubbing his cheek. "Ow!" he cried. "Stop being such a bully, Joseph!"

The other HIVE five members started doing the same thing. Kole and Joseph briefly wondered why, but then they saw the figure of Miss Soft looming over them.

"What," she asked, "Is going on here?"

Givon already had a story in his head, and did not hesitate to relate it to her. "Joseph was bullying Kole, as we came to help but then he turned on us!" he said as pitifully as he could.

Miss Soft frowned and, not hearing Kole exclaim "That's not true!" said, "Joseph, Principal's office, now!"

Joseph's jaw dropped. Kole looked horrified. The HIVE five smirked.

Still gaping, Joseph made his way to the Principal's office, and stood outside the door for a while, biting his lip. He then, quite slowly, knocked on the door.

"Come in," the new head teacher said.

Joseph sighed silently before entering the room. Upon seeing him, Mr. Wilson smiled.

"Ah, just the person I wanted to see." He motioned the seat opposite his desk. "Sit down."

Looking around, Joseph sat down on the chair. The room was quite bare, bar the few boxes by the desk. They were most likely full of Mr. Wilson's things, yet to be unpacked. On top of the desk was a name plate with the words '_SLADE WILSON'_ stamped on in block capitals.

"So, Joseph," Mr. Wilson – or Slade - began but paused upon seeing the mute boy's look of confusion. He chuckled slightly. "I know every student's name, Joseph, especially yours.

Joseph's green eyes brightened and grew wide.

"What are you here for, then? Fighting, I'd presume?" Slade said, taking a notice of his cut lip. Joseph wiped a small amount of blood from his mouth on the back of his hand, his eyes never leaving Slade's face. The head teacher leant down and snapped open his briefcase – which lay propped up against the desk. Slade rummaged around in the case before pulling out a sheet of paper. Joseph glanced down at the case and paled. A photo of him was sticking out the top.

Slade cleared his throat and he quickly looked back up. "According to your permanent records, you've never been in trouble in your life."

Joseph smiled slightly and shrugged, though was now feeling very uneasy.

"I'd assume this was a…one-time thing? In defence, perhaps?" Slade said, his grey eyes studying the boy carefully.

Joseph swallowed and nodded. He was eager to be out of the office as soon as possible. Slade gave a curt nod.

"If that is all, then you may leave," he said, a soft smile playing on his lips. Joseph tried not to sigh in relief, or twitch when Slade called out, "Wait, there's just one last thing."

From his briefcase, Slade took one more thing and offered it to Joseph. It was a square book, dark in colour, with an embellished cover.

"I think you'll find some good songs in there, for your guitar playing," Slade said before ushering him out of the room. Joseph exited, staring at the book, and thinking just one thing.

_What the HECK!_

**In the drama studio**

When he finally got to drama, the lesson was half way through. He slipped quietly into the drama studio and made his way over to Isaiah, Karen and Stormi. The teacher, busy talking to some other students, didn't notice.

"Where've you been then, Joey?" Isaiah wanted to know.

_Miss Soft sent me to the Principal's,_ Joseph signed. Isaiah screwed his face up in concentration, trying to work out what he'd just said.

"Um…I know this…" he muttered. There was a few minutes silence as Joseph, Karen and Stormi watched him, then he sighed and shook his head. "I give up, write it down?"

Joseph rolled his eyes, smiled, and took a notebook and pen from his pocket. He wrote down his message and showed it to his friends.

"What'd you do?" Isaiah asked.

_Nothing, _Joseph wrote,_ The HIVE five were being jerks, then pretended I was the one being a jerk._

"Those jerks," Karen said, frowning.

**Else where in the studio**

Kori, Jizelle, Kole, Toni, Gar and Vic sat in a circle in the drama studio, staring at their copies of a script they were meant to be analysing. They had long since dropped the subject of where Kole had been for the first part of the lesson. All she said was "The HIVE five were being annoying," and nothing more.

None of them were doing the work. Jizelle was distracted by the thought of the mysterious note in her locker. Kole was clicking her tongue, trying not to think about how painful her braces were. Kori and Vic were discussing some physics homework Kori had due in for Wednesday. Gar was smirking to himself, doodling costume ideas for Love-Man, and possible captions or catchphrases. Toni was staring blankly ahead, her mind lost in her thoughts.

"Toni, is there something you wish to discuss?" Kori suddenly asked, shaking Toni from her thoughts.

"Huh? Oh, no, not really love," she replied, shaking her head.

"You are perfectly sure?"

Toni nodded. The subject was dropped.

**With Joseph, Isaiah and Karen…**

Joseph was watching Isaiah carefully. The dark-skinned boy was staring into the distance with a dreamy look on his face. Stormi was in deep conversation with the teacher, elsewhere in the room, leaving the two boys and Karen alone. Joseph tapped Isaiah's shoulder.

_What are you staring at?_ He sighed, giving him a look that pretty much asked the question for him. Isaiah immediately flushed.

"Uhh…nothing."

Joseph raised an eyebrow and continued to stare at him. He didn't do it often, but he found that if he stared at someone for long enough, he could get them to do whatever he wanted. And right now it was working its magic on Isaiah.

"I was just…thinking…about something," Isaiah admitted, a tad vaguely. Karen looked at him with one eyebrow arched.

_You like someone, don't you,_ Joseph accused. Isaiah, who knew enough sign language to understand this, blushed even darker.

"No…yes…maybe…"

"Details!" Karen demanded, turning her attention to him.

"Nuh-uh!"

Karen and Joseph stared at him long and hard. Isaiah eventually sighed. "It's…a girl…It's just, I can't get her out of my mind. Whenever I see her it's like, I feel all light and when she's not around, I constantly think about her." He shook his head. "It's driving me crazy!"

Karen and Joseph glanced at each other, similar smirks on their faces.

"Sounds like you're in love," Karen said, laughing.

_Who's the lucky girl?_ Jericho asked.

"Well…she comes here."

"Ooh! Tell!" Karen demanded.

"No!"

"Give us a clue!"

"Um…black hair," Isaiah said, ducking his head.

"…Stormi?" Karen guessed randomly. Just then, Stormi returned from talking to the teacher.

"What?" she asked, having heard her name.

"Isaiah has a crush on you," Karen explained. Stormi's eyebrows shot up.

"No I don't!" Isaiah yelped. "There are other girls with black hair, you know!"

"Like," Karen pressed.

"T...uhh…Tabatha…"

"…Tabatha?" Joseph, Karen and Stormi looked at each other. Isaiah flushed and leapt to his feet. "I need to ask the teacher something," he said quickly before rushing off. There was silence before Karen spoke up.

"…There's a Tabatha?"

**After school**

A few minutes after the bell rang, signalling the end of school, the courtyard was full of students, waiting for buses or waving goodbye to friends. Kole, Toni and Jizelle, stepping outside, had just escaped the horror of German, and were talking about the lesson, when Jizelle suddenly stopped.

"What is it?" Toni asked.

"Um…there was something I had to do," Jizelle said, a sour look on her face. "I'll be back in a minute," she added before running off.

"Weird…" Toni commented. Kole nodded in agreement.

"Yeah…oh, my bus is here. See you tomorrow, Toni!" She smiled and waved and headed toward her bus, on the opposite side of the courtyard. Whilst she was running, however, she spotted a familiar person standing near the bus. He was flicking through a book and, as Kole saw when she got closer, he was looking slightly suspicious and confused.

Joseph was flipping through the music book Slade Wilson had given him, unsure. However, he was interrupted from his thoughts by someone saying his name softly.

"Joseph?"

Looking up, he saw the girl from before – Kole. She had her lips pressed together and was tapping her fingers against her leg. He nodded to show he was listening.

"Um…I just wanted to thank you…for helping me out earlier. Oh, and that time before, when you took me to the nurse's," Kole said with a small smile.

Joseph returned the smile, silently saying, 'You're welcome.'

"You didn't get in trouble, did you?"

He shook his head. Kole seemed relieved.

"Oh good…I'm Kole by the way." She paused for a second before sticking out her hand for him to shake. Joseph took her hand and shook it. Kole pulled away quite quickly. "Um yeah, thanks," she said before quickly scurrying onto the bus.

**Meanwhile**

Jizelle, meanwhile, had run over to Gabby, who was standing a little way away from the door.

"I still think this is a joke of some sort," Jizelle mumbled to her. Gabby rolled her eyes and gave her a small prod. Jizelle sighed. "Alright, I'm going," she said before walking off in the direction of the bike shed.

When she got there, Jizelle found there was no one there. The area behind the bike shed was quite secluded, being between the shed and a solid brick wall. Jizelle glanced around before shrugging nonchalantly. "Oh, I guess no one's here. Nevermind," she said and turned around, only to walk into Wally West.

He smiled widely at her, but Jizelle scowled. "Jizelle…"

"You," the girl spat, taking a step backwards.

"Yeah…You're here, he was right," Wally said, though it was more to himself. "Jizelle, I-"

However, he was cut off before he could finish. "Oh, whatever," she said darkly, pushing past him. She stomped off toward the bus stop. "I knew it."

A confused and hurt Wally watched her leave before sighing and following her. For once, he wished he didn't get the same bus as her.

**Meanwhile…**

Gabby waved goodbye to Jizelle and began walking to the fountain. It was located in a small courtyard near the drama studio. The courtyard was generally quite empty after school as the bus stop wasn't visible from it, and it was out of the way. The fountain itself was large and deep. It was built a few years ago when a student died, and her parents donated a large sum of money to the school for a fountain to be built in her memory.

Gabby sat down on the stone edge of the fountain, mulling over the situation. Some of Jizelle's mistrust of the whole thing was rubbing off on her, and so she got up again and began to prowl around the water feature, searching for anything that was out of the ordinary. However, she hadn't even made a full circuit when she heard a voice.

"Looking for something?"

Gabby looked up sharply. Garth was standing a few feet away, watching her curiously.

"Uh, no…yes…I don't know," she said, her voice getting quieter with every word. Garth raised his eyebrows at her, to which she responded with a small, bashful shrug. Looking down, she began to twiddle her thumbs – a habit she expressed when she was nervous.

Garth took no notice; instead he glanced down at his watch and frowned. In fact, he was so busy looking at his watch and frowning that he failed to notice Gabby start to walk away until she tripped up over a thin length of string (previously set up by a certain green boy) and fell into the fountain with a shriek.

There was a loud splash and a few droplets of water hit Garth's startled face as he looked up. Soaking wet and pale with fright, Gabby sat up in the water for a few seconds, in a state of shock, before suddenly realising where she was and who she was with. With a horrified squeak, she leapt from the fountain and ran off, leaving behind a trail of wet footprints and a confused, but amused, Garth.

Rachel watched as a wet Gabby leant against the school gate, breathing heavily having ran non-stop to the gates from the fountain. Although surprisingly quick and agile, Gabby had little stamina and could only run for very short distances at a time. Rachel, who had been waiting for her by the school gates, arched an eyebrow at her dripping state.

"Dare I ask why…?"

"I…fell…into…the…fountain…" she panted. When she had caught her breath, she and Rachel left the school and Gabby began to tell her the tale of what had happened, and her fear of the next day, when surely the news of the incident would be all over the school.

* * *

**Um…don't ask why I made her fall in the fountain…I just wanted to, heh. I'm so mean…**

**Gabby: *Is dripping wet* I hate you…**

**Me: Hmph, kids these days.**

**Kole: Why! Why's is always ME who gets bullied? **

**Me:…um…'cause it's entertaining? Heehee…you're so fun and bully-able…**

**Raven: That's…not a word.**

**Me: *Sticks out tongue* Mneh! Anywho, I have an important announcement/favour/request/DEMAND to ask of you, my loyal reviewers. *Grins widely* And just to accentuate the importance of this, I'm going to put it in CAPITALS and ****underline**** it! Le gasp!**

**THIS IS A REALLY IMPORTANT DEMAND! AND I REALLY NEED YOU TO READ THIS!**

**Okay, so I really need some sort of feedback on my two OCs, Gabby and Stormi. I don't know how they're being perceived. Are they good, bad? Annoying? Fun to read? Too interesting, or not interesting enough? Do I give them too much focus or not enough? PLEASE! I NEED YOUR OPINION!**

**Gabby: Yeah, or she'll do…things…**

**Me: WILL NOT! THEY'RE LYING! *Throws tantrum***

**Stormi: …freak.**

**Me: Anyway, REVIEW PLEASE GUYS!**

**Other Titans/characters: Yes! Please review! **


	10. Chapter 9: Hallowe'en

**So, I'm actually updating…eight months late…¬_¬ Maaaaaaan I fail. I am really really really really really really really really reeeeeeeaaaaaally sorry! I just…ah, got distracted over the winter with exams, then forgot, then I went through a bout of loooaaaads of school work, then more exams. Ugh…**

**But, I managed to finish this and I will try to update more regularly! I promise, please don't abandon me. Yell at me all you like; unleash the fury of capslock, foul language, mean names like 'shorty'; call me a fail or a slow person or a snail or a fail snail or whatever. Just don't leave me! **

**Ahem, now that that's over…I guess you can read the chapter. It's about HALLOWE'EN! And was meant to be uploaded…well, at Hallowe'en buuuut, it wasn't to be. Siiiiiiiiiiiiigh…**

**I don't own Teen Titans (duh). But I do own two characters, and my friend owes me £2…(just in case you were interested)**

* * *

Wally West sat in his bedroom, still in his pyjamas, staring at his two possible outfits. The first - and safe - outfit was a pair of blue jeans and a red t shirt. The second - and more dangerous – were black trousers and a black t shirt with a half-shadowed, red devil face printed across the front. The dangerous thing about this outfit, however, was the pair of 'devil horns' sitting on top of the shirt and the tube of temporary black hair-dye.

The boy stood up and began to pace around the room, mumbling to himself. The reason the second outfit was so dangerous, he thought bitterly to himself, was because of that new Head Teacher, Mr. Wilson. He remembered it well; yesterday, over the loud speakers, an announcement had been delivered by the man, relaying that there was so be no Hallowe'en cheer on threat of detention.

Wally made his decision. Grabbing his decided outfit he marched into the bathroom. A few minutes later he emerged, only to bump into his little sister.

"Finally! I've been waiting age-AH! What did you do to your HAIR!" the girl yelped, leaping backwards as she caught sight of the black streaks in Wally's carrot-coloured hair.

"I've dyed it! For Hallowe'en," Wally replied with a grin. His sister frowned and arched an eyebrow.

"Isn't Hallowe'en banned at your school now?" she enquired. She was fourteen years old, and in her last year at Middle School.

"…Well, yeah…" Wally grinned. "But who cares? It's a free country!"

The girl's green eyes did not waver, and instead continued to stare him down. "Your school's not, from what I hear."

"Eh, well…Hey! Are those pancakes I can smell?" Nose in the air, he sped past his sister and threw himself down the stairs, several steps at a time, before landing neatly in one of the chairs at the kitchen table.

His mother, who was by the stove making pancakes, glanced over her shoulder and smiled. "Morning, Sweetie. Sleep well?"

"Yep. Fine, mum!"

Mary West's smile faded suddenly as she took note of his streaked hair and dark clothing. "I thought you weren't allowed to dress up for Hallowe'en at school," she said.

"Wilson changed his mind," Wally lied before quickly digging into the steaming plate of pancakes she had just placed in front of him. He scoffed them down within a few minutes and quickly fled the room after chugging down a glass of orange juice.

Upstairs, he grabbed a bag and threw in a few items he would need then left it next to his school bag so he wouldn't forget it. The last twenty minutes before he had to leave were used to finish his History homework.

Twenty minutes later, he grabbed his sister and dragged her out of the house to drop her off at her school. Jump Middle School was only a short walk away from the house, but Mary West and her brother, Barry, didn't like the thought of her walking on her own, so they got Wally to walk her to school every morning.

Unfortunately, his sister wasn't up to walking at their usual brisk pace, and was being rather difficult.

"Why are you in such a rush, anyway? We've got fifteen minutes, and the bus stop is, like, five minutes from my school…which is five minutes away!" she said, pouting slightly. Wally sighed in frustration.

"One, there's something I have to do and two, we only have ten minutes."

The girl looked down at her watch and grinned sheepishly. "Oh yeah…" She started walking at a more normal pace, but gave him a questioning look. "What do you have to do?"

"Nothing!"

"You just said there was something you had to do, though."

Wally glared at his sister, but knew he wouldn't win and so replied, "I just need to pick something up."

"What do you need to pick up?"

"…Something…that is none of your business…" Brother and sister fell into silence, but she had purposely slowed down her pace, wasting time. She saw, from the corner of her eye, Wally slow down to glance at a shop and then at his watch.

"_Flower's Flower Shoppe?"_ she questioned. Wally turned to give her an annoyed looked.

"Yeah…so…I need to pick up a flower."

"Let's go get it then!" Grinning widely with a sly glint in her eyes, she grabbed Wally's arm and dragged him into the shop.

It was a neat, square room, with a few rows of brightly coloured flowers, arranged into pretty bouquets in paper wrappings. They ranged from simple and elegant, to bountiful and extravagant. A small bell above the door tinkled as they entered, alerting a frail man behind the counter, whose white hair looked in need of a good combing, of their presence.

"Good Morning, Wallace," Mr. Flower said, smiling at his regular customer. Wally grinned back and shook off his younger sister. He had long since gotten over the irony and coincidence between Mr. Flower's name and job. "You want the usual, I presume?" he asked, stepping out from behind the counter, toward a basket of fresh red roses.

"Yes please, Mr. Flower. Oh, and this is my sister." He gestured the girl who smiled politely.

"Yes, nice to meet you," Mr. Flower said with a wavering smile. He looked over the roses for a few seconds before picking up the reddest rose of the bunch and handing it to Wally. "Have you told the young lady, yet?"

"Eh…almost…But she kind of ran off before I could say anything," Wally admitted, somewhat sadly.

"Ah, don't let it get you down, son. You'll get her in the end."

Wally gave him a grin as he grabbed a handful of money from his pocket, counted out the right amount and dropped it on the desk. "Thanks, Mr. Flower."

"You're welcome, son. You'd best hurry and be on your way," Mr. Flower added, glancing at the wooden clock on the wall. Wally, after carefully transferring the rose to a small box which he put in his bag, grabbed his sister's hand and propelled her out of the shop.

"Who's the rose for?" was the first thing she said as they ran down the road towards her school.

"A girl."

"That's a relief."

"You're hilarious," Wally commented flatly.

"I know! And I'm serious. Who's it for?"

"You wouldn't know her."

"Yeah," she nodded. "All the more reason for you to tell me!"

"Eh…no."

"Please! Describe her at least!"

Wally gave his sister a long, hard look before sighing in submission. "Well…she's one of the most amazing people I've ever met. She's strong-willed, stubborn, and doesn't take rubbish from anyone. But she's a good person, loyal to her friends, funny, honest. She doesn't throw herself at people like some girls do…she's different. And not just in looks – although she does have pink hair, which is a little odd."

"Awesome," his sister commented. "Pink hair, I like her already."

"Wait 'till you meet her…" Wally had a rather uncharacteristically dreamy smile on his face.

"Can't wait!"

"…Actually, maybe you shouldn't meet her. You might scare her off." Wally grinned. He stopped in his tracks as they had finally reached the Middle School building. The girl sighed and stopped as well, glancing at her brother.

"Not funny."

"Anyway." He put on an over-the-top, motherly voice. "Have a good day, sweetie. And remember not to talk to strange people you don't know."

"Yeah, yeah, mum."

A few yards away from the brother and sister, a car had pulled up against the pavement. It was a fairly large, expensive car, and dark blue in colour. The woman in the front seat had fair skin and a head of curly black hair which contrasted with her pale blue eyes. Next to her, in the passenger seat, sat a teenager who looked much like the woman, the only obvious difference being that her hair was pin straight and interlaced with thin, silver highlights.

Stormi's body was twisted around the seat, watching two young boys clamber out of the car. Michael and Matthew Beecher grinned and waved to the car.

"Muchas Gracias, Senora Rosewood!" they chorused in Spanish before running off to find their friends. The twin boys were in the lowest grade of Middle School.

"Why is it they always insist on speaking in Spanish unless my mother is around?" Karen mumbled from the back seat as the car started up again as Stormi's mother began driving to Jump City High.

"'Cause annoying you is their favourite game?" Stormi suggested with a smirk.

"If you were me, you wouldn't joke like that," Karen mumbled.

"If I were you, I'd be in jail for murder," she pointed out. It was an exaggeration of the truth; she couldn't stand the two boys most of the time.

"True…" Karen shrugged. "You going to Kitten's party tonight?"

"Ha! No." Stormi shook her head with a laugh. But before she could continue, her mother explained.

"Those sorts of parties are full of alcohol, drugs and other nasty frivolities," she said. Her voice had a thin, nasal quality to it. "Besides, it would no doubt end long after Stormi's bed time."

Stormi's face flushed pale pink as she glared at her mother. "Mum!" she groaned, ignoring the snorts of laughter from Karen.

"Don't you use that tone with me, young lady," Mrs. Rosewood said, frowning. Stormi sighed and looked away.

"Karen, mention anything at school, and I will come after you with a pitch fork."

"Ooh, scary."

"I mean it!"

"Stormi! We do _not_ threaten people like that!" her mother snapped.

The girl huffed, and didn't speak again for the remainder of the journey.

As usual, the two girls got to school with a lot of time to spare, and so it wasn't until fifteen minutes later that the buses began to arrive. Students poured out of them and into the school grounds and building, including a bashful looking Garfield Logan. In addition to his school bag, on his arm was also hanging a plastic carrier bag.

"C'mon, Jizelle! I've been apologising for two days now!" he cried, his pleading eyed locked on the pink-haired girl, who merely gave him the cold shoulder. After his match making plans between Jizelle and Wally and Gabby and Garth had gone wrong, it hadn't taken long for them to trace it all back to their sneaky, green friend.

"Gar, just because Gabby caved so quickly, doesn't mean I'm going to," she said coolly. Although Gabby hadn't completely forgiven him, her behaviour was a lot less hostile than Jizelle's.

"Well, Gabby's nice," Gar mumbled.

"Too ready to forgive, more like," Toni said. "Thanks to you she fell into the fountain! And she's hydrophobic."

"I know! But she's forgiven me, and that's all that matters!" said Gar, throwing his arms in the air before grabbing Jizelle's hand. "Please, Jizelle! I'm sorry!"

"Fine!" The pink-haired girl sighed in exasperation. "I forgive you! Just promise to not try anything like that with us again!"

"I promise!" He nodded quickly, slowing down slightly to let his friends get ahead of him then whispered slyly to himself, "They won't involve _you_ guys…"

* * *

**During form time…**

It was easily the most boring Hallowe'en Jump City High had had in a long time. No one was dressed up, the corridors were plain and the cafeteria had been banned from supplying any Hallowe'en-themed foods, such as the spider-shaped biscuits they'd had last year.

Gar sat, staring forlornly at the door as Miss Periwinkle droned on about…whatever it was she was talking about; probably something about the school trip coming up in a few weeks. He glanced up at the clock quickly and saw he had ten minutes until the end of first lesson.

Quietly, so as not to draw the attention of Rachel sitting next to him, he pulled a small piece of paper from his bag and began to write a few lines in his best handwriting. He then held up the paper to admire his handiwork. The paper read;

_Are you in love, but don't know if that special someone loves you back?_

_Have you got two friends who are crazy for each other, but won't admit it?_

_If you answered **yes** to either of the above questions, then you need **The Love Man!**_

_Found in room 99 at Lunchtime on Monday, Wednesday and Friday._

Gar smirked to himself. Phase one; complete. He glanced at Rachel but she hadn't seen anything. He slipped the piece of paper into his pocket and stuck his hand into the air, waving it above his head to draw attention to himself. Miss Periwinkle gave a weary sigh and said, "Yes, Garfield?"

"Can I go to the toilet, please?"

She nodded and motioned for him to go. "Be quick."

Gar leapt to his feet and ran out of the room but, instead of going left to the loos, he turned right and tore down the corridor toward the Pupil Services.

Pupil Services was a small room with pale green walls, run by a couple of teachers. It was where students could get work photocopied, scanned, laminated or even printed out if it was too much work for the library printers. There was a little door to the left which led to the Nurse's office next door, and to the right a door to behind the reception desk.

Gar knocked on the door and entered the room. There was only one teacher in; a man with greying hair and a large nose. He turned around and looked at Gar with raised eyebrows. "Can I help you?"

"I need to photocopy something," he said, holding up the small piece of paper.

The man nodded and held out his hand, gesturing to Gar to give him the piece of paper. Gar hesitated before handing it over. The man, without looking at it, placed it in the photocopier and asked, "How many copies?"

"Twenty please."

"Do you want it enlarged?"

"No. Same size."

"I'll photocopy it onto A5 paper then," he said, tapping a few details into the machine. He placed a few sheets of A5 paper into a slot in the side and pressed the 'Start' button. A few minutes later, Gar walked out of Pupil Services, holding a small stack of paper. For the remainder of form, he went around sticking the paper onto notice boards throughout the school with blue tack.

He had just finished sticking up the last one when he a couple of doors opened and students began flooding into the corridor, heading for their first lesson. Checking his timetable, Gar found he had History first. He realised - to his luck - that he was already standing outside his classroom and so leant casually against the wall and waited for his classmates to arrive.

Jizelle appeared first. She leant against the wall next to Gar and looked at him with arched eyebrows. "Where'd you go in form?"

"…The loo…" Gar replied whilst shifting slightly to block the notice he had just put up.

"Tch. It doesn't take fifteen minutes to go to the loo," Jizelle said, shaking her head.

"Dude, what do you want? I'll tell you exactly what I did in the loo if that's what you want to know!" Gar exclaimed, waving his arms.

"No." There was a look of disgust on her face.

"That's what I thought," he mumbled, folding his arms. He looked to the side and noticed Roy striding over with Richard. He wore a sleeveless black shirt with the top undone so that part of his chest was on show, skinny black jeans and dark red fingerless gloves. His normal sunglasses had been swapped for a pair of dark red shades and fake blood was smeared around his mouth. Richard was shaking his head as they walked.

"You do know that Mr. Jones is going to kill you when he sees you, right?" Richard said. Roy chuckled.

"Yeah, well. What are they going to do about it?"

"Force you to take it off and give you detention?"

Roy just shrugged. "Well, at least I wasn't a total idiot like Wally. I still have the clothes I came in this morning with, so when we get caught we'll look normal and he'll freeze from going around with no shirt on."

Richard sighed and went silent before freezing and staring at him. "Wait, 'we'?"

"You didn't think we'd forget you and Garth did you, Richie?" He held up a plastic bag and grinned. Richard looked quite unamused.

"I am not dressing up."

"Yeah you are. We're starting a rebellion against Wilson and all these rules he's made." He lowered the bag and raised an eyebrow at Richard – though this couldn't be seen behind the sunglasses. "So, are you in or are you chicken?"

Richard frowned and glared, but said nothing.

"Well, whichever you choose; you're still doing it. You've got no choice in the matter." Roy smirked. However, just then Mr Jones, a large, dark-haired man, came around the corner with a laptop tucked under his arm. Roy ducked his head and shuffle behind Richard, concealing most of his outfit from view. Richard snorted in laughter and shook his head.

* * *

**Break - **

"Vic! Looking good!" Gar praised, grinning widely as Victor turned on the spot. The blue sections of his machinery had turned a deep, vicious red, and the metal had been spray-painted black.

"Yeah, I got my dad to help reconfigure some of the tech. Then I painted the rest of it black. It was easy," Vic said, inspecting on arm proudly. He shifted his gaze to Gar and commented, "You don't look too bad yourself, grass stain."

Gar glanced down at himself. His hair had been brushed upwards so that his pointed ears were on show. Bits of green, matted 'fur' had been stuck on his face, hands and arms, and the remaining skin visible was decorated with fake scratches and bruises. "I try…"

Meanwhile, Wally and Roy were in the boy's bathroom, leaning against the wall and smirking. They were still decked out in their Hallowe'en clothes, having managed to avoid getting detention thus far.

"You guys done yet?" Roy asked, looking over at the two closed doors opposite them.

"I'm not getting changed. We'll only get in trouble," Garth called from his cubicle.

"Exactly," Richard said from the next cubicle along.

"Scaredy-cat," Wally taunted. There was a sigh, a grumble, and a few minutes later Richard and Garth emerged from the cubicles, looking particularly unhappy. Richard was clad in black, ripped jeans and a dishevelled t-shirt with fake blood splatters. Wally cornered him and began sticking fake wounds on his neck and face, and smearing on brown and red face paint, to the amusement of Roy.

Garth, meanwhile, was sporting a black suit with a matching cape, the lining of which was red. It had a high collar that tickled the back of his ears. In his mouth was a pair of fangs, smeared in fake blood.

Richard looked over at him and frowned. "How come he gets to be Dracula, and I have to be a…whatever I am?"

"A zombie and because he's got the hair to pull it off," Roy replied. He grabbed his phone from his pocket and checked the time then grinned. "C'mon Richie; we've got a Geography lesson to go to." The four boys left the bathroom, two somewhat hesitantly, and split to go to their lessons.

* * *

**Outside Geography**

"I feel silly," Richard mumbled, tugging at his t shirt self-consciously as they waited outside their classroom. "You do realise we're the only ones dressed up, right?"

"Nuh-huh. That green dude's dressed up," Roy said, jabbing his thumb in Gar's direction.

"Well, he's green," Richard replied with a shrug. "That doesn't count."

"What about his two friends?" he carried on, looking at Toni and Jizelle who, with their pale skin grouped with make-up and gothic clothing, resembled witches.

"They always look like that."

"…How do you know that?"

"Uh…"

"Richard, Roy; what on earth are you wearing?" The speaker was Mr. Mod, who was staring at the two boys with wide eyes.

"Uh, clothes…" Roy said. The teacher glared.

"No funny backchat. Did you miss the announcement yesterday telling students there was to be no dressing up?"

"Oh yeah," Richard murmured, tapping his chin. "Now you mention it…"

Mod twitched and pointed to the classroom door. "In. I'll deal with you two after the lesson."

"Is that going to make us late for Tech?" Roy started to say but was cut off.

"IN!"

The two boys scurried into the classroom and sat down. Richard was glaring at Roy. "I told you we'd get into trouble."

"Oh well."

Gar, meanwhile, was sitting in his usual seat, keeping his head down above his notebook. He had seen Mod get annoyed with Richard and Roy over their choice of outfit, and was hoping not to be spotted himself. Toni, Jizelle, Kole and Gabby exchanged glances and shook their heads.

* * *

**In History**

Garth and Wally, having managed to sneak into the classroom unspotted, were sitting at the very back with their heads bent over their work, looking unusually studious. Vic was sitting near them in a similar manner. He knew the teacher had already noticed his change in appearance, but hadn't said anything; though he did continuously glance at him strangely.

Rachel, like Toni and Jizelle, was looking witch-like; with her purple hair and eyes and grey skin. It didn't help that many of her clothes were her mother's cast offs, and her mother had had a vampiric taste in fashion.

* * *

**Lunch**

Soon enough, fourth period was over and the students of Jump City High flooded to the cafeteria to eat lunch. Somehow, no one had yet been caught, bar Richard and Roy, however they had snuck out of the Geography classroom before Mod could reprimand them.

Of course, all good things had to come to an end. Richard, Roy, Garth and Wally were walking down the corridor when they bumped into Mr Wilson.

"Aw sh-" Roy started to say then saw the look the Head teacher was giving him and quickly changed his exclamation. "Shoot…"

"And what, pray-tell, are you three doing in those…costumes?" Mr Wilson asked. His voice was dangerously calm as he narrowed his grey eyes.

"Uhh…"

"I suggest you march to the little boys' room and get changed," he said. After a pause he added. "And then report to room 101 after school for detention. And if you don't turn up," he fixated the four with a dangerous glare, "things will be much worse."

They gulped and nodded then Mr Wilson walked away.

"Well, we'd better go get changed," Garth said, turning to walk in the direction of the bathroom, but Roy stopped him.

"Why should we do that?"

"Um, because Wilson just told us to…" Garth replied.

"And? All we got to do is stay out of his way. Besides, Wally here doesn't have anything to change back in to." He turned to give the red-gone-black haired boy an unimpressed look. Wally grinned and laughed sheepishly.

"Whoops."

Mr Wilson wasn't done with his rounds of doom. He strode through the school building, barking out orders ever five minutes; telling people to 'Straighten up their clothes', 'wash that grot off their face', 'tame that unruly hair' and to 'do up their shoelaces'. It was quite ridiculous. Eventually he got to the courtyard, where a group of friends were walking toward their usual table beneath a large tree.

"You five, what are you dressed as?" he asked from behind the group. Gar and Vic froze whilst Kori, Rachel, Kole, Jizelle, Toni and Gabby turned around.

"Uhh…This is how I always look?" Gar tried.

"There was…uhh…a malfunction with my machinery?" Vic said, obviously making it up on the spot. Slade Wilson turned his gaze to Toni, Jizelle and Rachel.

"And you thee? What are your excuses?"

"Excuses? For what?" Jizelle wanted to know, frowning.

"For dressing up when you were specifically told not to."

"What do you mean, dressing up?" Toni demanded, folding her arms and looking quite insulted. "This is what we always look like!"

Her friends all nodded desperately. Wilson arched an eyebrow, not convinced. "All five of you are to get changed immediately, then report to room 101 for detention after school." And with that he walked off.

Jizelle and Toni were not best pleased. "How…how…how dare he!" Toni spluttered.

"Who does he think he is! We can't help the way we look!" Jizelle cried in anger.

"Um, well, you didn't have to wear all of that eyeliner…or the gothic-y clothes…" Kole began timidly but whimpered when Jizelle aimed her fiery glare at her.

"I don't care. I am NOT going to that detention!" Jizelle said firmly.

"We kind of have to," Rachel said bluntly, not looking that bothered. "If we don't, we'll probably be in worse trouble."

"Darn, we got spotted," Gar mumbled.

"Still, lasted two lessons," Vic said with a shrug. Gar began peeling the fake fur off of his skin as the group carried on walking toward their table. Vic was fiddling with the control pad beneath a panel on his arm. He frowned after a few seconds and sighed. "Darn, I can't re-configure the colour of my body parts…Looks like I'm staying black and red until I get home."

* * *

**Later, in French**

Richard, Roy and Wally were sitting at the back of the classroom, the latter two looking strangely interested in the worksheets they were meant to be translating into English, whilst the former was staring off in some random direction.

"Je mangerais," Roy mumbled with atrocious pronunciation and a frown. "Je mangerais…um…" He looked at Richard, who was sitting between him and Wally, and nudged him. "What does 'Je mangerais' mean?"

Richard didn't reply at first, so submerged in his thoughts that the real world had little effect on him. Roy leant back in his chair and tilted his head to see what Richard was staring at, and was quite surprised to find his friend's eyes level with the pretty, red-headed girl who hung out with a bunch of freaks. What was her name? Carrie? Coral? Kori. That was it, Kori.

Roy smirked slightly, returned to his original position and began to jab Richard's shoulder until he snapped back to reality.

"What?"

"'Je mangerais'; what does it mean?"

"I don't know, I'm not there yet," Richard replied with a shrug. Roy opened his mouth again but Richard cut him off. "And there's no point in asking Wally; he's still on the first sentence. Both boys looked at Wally West who was muttering to himself.

"Bonjour, je m'appelle Louise…Um…Je m'appelle…" Wally tapped his head, his tongue sticking out of his mouth. Roy and Richard shook their heads and, whilst the latter got back to work, the former twisted around in his seat to ask the girl next to him.

"Hey, Stormi?"

"Hm?" The girl didn't look up, but acknowledged that he was talking to her, though there was a hint of annoyance in her voice.

"What does 'Je mangerais' mean?"

"Uhh…je mangerais…" Stormi looked up, confused. "How on earth are you spelling that?"

Roy leant over to point to the mysterious phrase on her worksheet. His body was getting to be a little too close to comfort, though Stormi couldn't tell if this was on purpose or not. Cautiously she craned her neck forward to read the phrase. "Oh, je mangerais. Um, I will eat, I think."

"Oh yeah, I knew that."

He sat back at his own desk and continued to scribble down on his worksheet. Not ten seconds later he was back. "What does that mean?"

"…A banana."

"Ooh…and that?"

"…a towel."

"Uh-huh…and that?"

Stormi scowled, getting more and more annoyed. Not even looking at what he was pointing at, she said, "A UFO."

"Ah…" Roy started writing it down then realised something. "Wait, that means 'but my room didn't have a UFO.' That's ridiculous."

"Life's ridiculous."

"Stormi!" Roy whined, quite loudly. The teacher looked over.

"I'm trying to do my work," she growled.

"Stormi!"

"No."

"Stormi…" It was become less of a whine and more of a taunt. He touched her arm to get her attention which was when Stormi snapped. She slapped his hand away from her and glared daggers.

"Will you just _shut up_!"

"Miss Rosewood, what are you yelling about?" Mr Voyage demanded angrily.

"Roy was-" Stormi began to say but found her sentence being finished for her.

"-asking for help because I got stuck on a couple of words; and she was refusing to help me."

"Stormi," the teacher said sternly.

"But…"

Roy smirked and, as if to twist the dagger in deeper, added, "And she deliberately told me a wrong answer."

"Stormi. Detention, after school."

"But-"

"Back to work."

The teacher marched back to the front desk as the students, who had stopped abruptly to watch, went back to work. Roy was smirking widely and Stormi was staring at him, open mouthed.

"I am going to kill you, Harper," Stormi muttered, before getting back to her work, though all concentration was lost. Joseph and Karen, who were sitting at the desk next to her, exchanged worried looks.

* * *

**After school…**

"See ya at school tomorrow," Karen said, getting into her mother's car.

"Yeah, see ya," Stormi replied, eyes dull. Usually, Mrs Beecher would give her a lift home but, due to afterschool detention, that wasn't going to happen. Karen gave her a sad look through the car window before the car drove away.

Kori waved to her friends as she got onto her bus, alone. Toni, Jizelle, Gar and Vic waved sadly back as Rachel approached them. Gabby, on her way out of the gates, gave them a half smile before disappearing into the streets. Kole had already boarded her bus. The five friends sighed quietly then turned and walked back into the school building, heading toward room 101. In the room already were Roy, Richard, Garth, Wally, and a few other kids. Vic recognised a couple of them as Goliath, A.K.A. "Mammoth" and his friends Givon and Seymour.

They took seats in the middle of the room and looked around boredly. The teacher wasn't there yet. Rachel took out a book and started to read whilst her friends busied themselves huffing grumpily or twiddling their thumbs. Jizelle looked up and noticed Wally staring at her. She arched an eyebrow to which he flushed and looked away.

Stormi entered the room a couple of minutes later and sat down in the nearest available seat. Shortly after this, a few other people entered, and finally the teacher arrived. She was abut thirty, possibly younger, and didn't look too pleased to be there. She did a quick head count, nodded – satisfied in the knowledge that everyone had turned up – and proceeded to sit down at the teacher's desk. From her bag she took a magazine and began absently flicking through it.

The students glanced around at each other. Quickly, Richard and Wally began communicating using a paper aeroplane thrown above Garth's head.

'_Can you give me a lift home?'_ Richard wrote.

'_Alfred not able to get you?_' Wally scribbled back.

'_No. He's cooking dinner and can't leave it long enough to get me'_

Wally paused for a second before writing, _'I'm sure mum'll give you a lift'_

'_Thanks'. _

Rachel was deeply engrossed in her book, and only half noticed when something hit the back of her head. She had registered the light tap as the screwed up piece of paper collided with her skull, but didn't think much of it and chose to ignore it.

Gar also felt something hit him but, instead of ignoring it, he swivelled around and glared at Mammoth, Givon and Seymour, who were sniggering behind their hands. Gar pouted, leant down to grab the paper-ball, and chucked it back. It hit Mammoth right between the eyes. He blinked in surprise and looked down to the desk, where it had fallen. Slowly, he picked it up and stared at it. His head snapped up to stare at Gar, who had quickly swivelled in his seat and was looking to the front, feigning innocence. Givon growled and grabbed the paper ball from Mammoth. From his bag he snatched a pencil and scrawled, _'you'd better look out after detention, snot face, cuz we're gonna get you!'_ before chucking it back.

Gar blanched upon reading the note and scrunched it up again before hurling it at the bin in the corner. He sighed and leant back in his chair, looking around boredly, until his eyes focussed on Wally. The ginger boy, whose hair was still streaked black, kept glancing in the direction of Jizelle. The pink-haired girl remained oblivious, and was more interested in passing notes to Toni.

Shifting his gaze to Richard, Gar dug his notebook out of his bag and scribbled something on a plain page. He ripped it out and slid the paper onto Vic's desk. It read; _'Don't you think Richard and Kori would make a cute couple?'_

Vic didn't look very happy. He frowned and, drawing out his own pen, wrote down a quick reply.

'_If you say so. Don't get me involved in this, its girl talk.'_

Gar read the note, the sides of his mouth tugging downwards, and then scribbled something else._ 'Come on dude. Honest thoughts.' _

Vic sighed heavily before eventually giving in. _'Okay then. They'd make a cute couple' _he wrote to please Gar then chucked it back.

Gar began scribbling almost straight away. _'I think we should get them together.'_

'_No way. I am not getting involved!' _The taller boy sent Gar a hard look, emphasising his decision. Gar pouted and exhaled sharply, accidentally blowing the paper from his desk, over the head of Wally and onto Roy's desk. No one else had noticed, all too busy being bored.

Roy blinked slowly as he noticed something white fall into his line of vision and land on the plastic-wood surface of the table. He glanced behind him, but no one gave him eye contact. Curious, he picked up the note and read the conversation then smirked. The hand writing wasn't familiar to him, but the idea it proposed was intriguing. A small smirk spread slowly across his face; Kori was the girl Richard had been staring at in during French, and the girl he had helped up a few weeks ago. He could remember teasing Richard about it with Wally.

The smirk grew as Roy looked left at Richard, who was leaning backwards in his chair; head tilted toward the ceiling and looking half dead, then returned his gaze to the scrap of paper containing the conversation. Whilst thinking up some no doubt cunning plan, he saw, out of the corner of his eye, another piece of paper scuffed and wrinkled on the floor by his foot. It must have fallen out of someone's book, he decided as he leant down to pick it up.

_Are you in love, but don't know if that special someone loves you back?_

_Have you got two friends who are crazy for each other, but won't admit it?_

_If you answered **yes** to either of the above questions, then you need **The Love Man!**_

_Found in room 99 at Lunchtime on Monday, Wednesday and Friday._

Roy's eyebrows rose slightly in interest. _That was convenient…_ He carefully folded the Love Man advert and slipped it into his pocket then checked the time on his watch; still another half hour to go. With a sigh he put his arms on his desk and rested his head on his hands.

Finally, the clock struck half past four, and the teacher let them go. The students quickly stood up and left the room, immediately exploding into chatter.

"Ugh, so boring," Jizelle mumbled to Rachel and Toni. "I cannot wait to get home."

"It wasn't so bad," Rachel replied.

With Gar and Vic on their heels, the girls stepped outside into the crisp air. Although it was only half four, the sky was beginning to darken slightly. A handful of cars were already in the school car park, some with parents waiting for their kids to come out.

Givon, Mammoth and Seymour, Gar noticed with horror, were making their way toward him with murderous intent in their eyes. With a gulp he looked around desperately and almost fainted in relief as he spotted Rita's small black car.

"Looks like my ride's here," he said. "See you guys tomorrow!" With a small wave to his friends, Gar sprinted in the direction of his adoptive mum's car and threw himself into the front seat. It was a massive stroke of luck that Rita had come to collect him, as opposed to Steve who would have bitten his head off for getting detention.

Rachel adjusted the bag on her shoulder and started out of the school gates to walk home as usual. Vic, Jizelle and Toni half-waved as Gar and Rachel escaped the school grounds before sitting down on a bench, waiting for their own parents to arrive.

Wally and Richard were next to leave as a young and pretty woman with light orange hair tied in a high pony tail waved from a highly waxed car. The two boys quickly ran over, yelling farewells to Roy and Garth over their shoulders.

The sight of Givon's six foot tall mother looking down on her tiny son set Jizelle, Toni and Vic into fits of laughter, as did the tiny banger Mammoth had to squeeze into when his mountain of a father turned up.

Within a couple of minutes only Stormi, Roy and Garth remained. The two boys were idly chatting, whilst Stormi, on the other side of the courtyard, tried, for the umpteenth time, to phone her mother. Like the numerous times before, all she got in return was a long chain of rings, followed by the stiff voice of her mother say, _"Hello, this is Caroline Rosewood. I'm sorry I can't talk to you right now. Please try again later, or leave a message and I'll get back to you when I can."_

Stormi moaned in annoyance and slid her phone into her jean pocket. It was no use; she wasn't going to get through to her mother any time soon. Getting to her feet and hoisting her bag onto her shoulder, Stormi began a slow walk to the school gates as another car drove in. Garth immediately leapt to his feet and, waving goodbye to Roy, jogged over.

Stormi paused at the gates and watched as the blue Volvo drove past her. A sinking feeling developed in her stomach; she had no idea how she was going to get home. Her mother was still at work and never answered her mobile, and would be able to until 6pm, when her office shift finished. No one would be at the house, and she had never used any sort of public transport in her life, she didn't even know where a bus stop or train station was.

A large red car drove into the car park, window rolled down, with a man grinning in the front seat. He held a great resemblance to his son; same strong chin and hazel eyes, though his hair was a few shades darker than Roy's and longer.

"Hey kiddo," he greeted as Roy climbed into the passenger seat. "How was detention?"

"Eh," Roy shrugged. "It was okay." His seatbelt clicked into place as his dad drove around in a large arc to face the exit. As Roy looked out the window, he noticed Stormi standing by the gates. A smirk made its way to his lips, but it quickly fell when he saw the troubled look on her face. She seemed lost, unsure. He knew she usually got a lift after school, and so the idea that she would be stuck for a way home after detention hadn't crossed his mind.

"Something wrong, kiddo?" Harold "Harry" Harper asked.

"No. Well…stop the car for a second?"

The vehicle halted and Roy, mumbling an, "I can't believe I'm doing this," got out of the car then jogged over to her.

"Hey, need a lift?"

Stormi turned her head sharply, surprised to see Roy standing in front of her, a hint of some foreign emotion on his face. Although every fibre of her being was begging her to hug him and scream, 'Yes! Thank you so much!' Stormi's pride took control.

"No, I'm fine," she said stiffly then turned on her heel and walked out of the school gates, her head thrown haughtily back with her chin in the air, as if she knew exactly how she was going to get home. When she had turned the corner, and was safely out of sight, she slowed her march to a dawdling shuffle. Behind her, the red car started up again and powered down the road.

"Kiddo, I need to make a quick stop at the supermarket; your mum gave me a list." Harry tugged a piece of paper from his pocket with one hand, keeping the other on the steering wheel, and handed it to Roy.

"Whoa, long list. Didn't she go shopping on Monday?"

His dad shrugged.

Stormi trudged through the streets of Jump City, hands deep in her pockets, eyes searching for something familiar. She was attempting to walk the usual route she took in the car, but twenty minutes later she was horribly lost and had no idea where she was. The sky was gradually getting darker as the sun began to sink. Clouds – angry and iron-grey – filled the space above.

* * *

The clock struck six pm. Caroline Rosewood glanced up from her work; slender fingers paused above a well-worn keyboard, and took note of the time. Saving all of her progress, she turned the computer off and stood up, her knees clicking slightly from lack of use. She bent down to pick up her handbag when a short, plump man tapped her on the shoulder.

"Rosewood. I need to talk to you about the staff timetable, do you have a moment?"

Susan nodded. They chatted for seven minutes then Caroline signed out, left the building and got into her car, her phone left unchecked. When it came to ten past six, she was in the car, handbag at her feet, and any vibrations from her phone went unnoticed.

* * *

_Patter patter patter._

Large droplets of rain splashed down on the pavement. It came thick and fast, and very suddenly as only a minute ago the ground was bone dry but was now a uniform dark grey. Stormi rubbed her forehead, dislodging some of the straggled hair clinging to her wet skin. Already the rain had soaked through her fleecy and her t-shirt and her jeans were plastered to her legs. Inside her schoolbag her books were damp.

_Still, it could be worse_, she thought to herself.

_**CRASH**__, _roared a sudden attack of thunder.

_Scratch that thought. _

Stormi let out an exasperated sigh and pulled out her phone. The illuminated screen told her it was 6.10pm. She quickly dialled her mum's number and prayed she would pick up, but again she was met only by unanswered rings and a recorded voice message. Stormi thought briefly about phoning Karen, but she didn't particularly want to admit to her the mess she'd gotten into, nor did she want to be a burden if Karen came out to find her. No, she'd just have to think of something else. A taxi company maybe?

And then her phone died. "For pity's sake," she muttered, leaning against a brick wall. She let her head fall backwards and groaned. Things were not looking brilliant. A bright fork of lightning etched itself in the sky, shortly followed by another ferocious roar.

"Whoa, it's really bucketing it down, eh?" Harry Harper said, pushing his key into the ignition. Roy nodded absently, staring intently into a hand mirror as he patted down his hair. He hated the rain – it had a tendency to make his hair go frizzy.

"Yeah, pretty rubbish," he said. Satisfied that his head decoration was utterly perfect, he put away the mirror and looked forward as the car rumbled out of the supermarket car park and back onto the road.

"Hopefully it'll clear up for Betty. She was really eager to go trick or treating this year."

Roy grinned and chuckled to himself. "I don't think it will. Ah well, I guess Brat'll have to go trick or treating in the rain, poor her."

Harry rolled his eyes. The car stopped at a traffic light put in place due to road works – the sort that stay red for about five minutes then go green for ten seconds before flicking back to red - giving the Harpers a chance to glance around without running the risk of killing anyone. "Say, isn't that the stuck-up girl from earlier?"

Roy sat up straight and stared out of the window and, lo and behold, there was Stormi, leaning against a wall looking sorry for herself. "Oh yeah. Wonder what she's still doing out."

"You sure she was alright for a lift?"

"She said she was fine."

Roy went back to looking out the window, guilt starting to stab at his insides. He was, after all, partly responsible for the detention that made her miss her ride.

"Tell her to get in the car."

"Huh?"

"Tell her to get in the car. She shouldn't be out, not in this weather," Mr. Harper said, giving his son a slight nudge to get him going. "Be quick, lights might change soon."

Roy exited the car and, after slight hesitation, walked over to Stormi. "What are you still doing out?"

"Huh?" Stormi's head snapped up, eyes wide. "U-um, I-uh…"

"Get in the car."

"What?"

Roy rolled his eyes slightly and pointed to the car behind him. "Get in the car."

Leaning to the side, Stormi peered around him and saw Harry waving cheerfully from the driver's seat. She straightened again and said, "No."

"This isn't a request, this is an order," Roy said irritably, beginning to get annoyed. "Get in the car."

"Since when did I have to obey your orders? I am not getting in the car," replied the girl before folding her arms over her chest and sticking her chin out stubbornly. Roy fisted his hands and suppressed a growl of frustration. With a deep breath, he carefully reached forward and placed a hand on her shoulder. Though she glanced down at the hand with annoyance, she didn't shake it off.

"Look, could you just put away your pride for one minute? You obviously don't know where you're going and, as much as I hate to admit it, I…" Roy mumbled something quietly and quickly, so much so that Stormi squinted and arched an eyebrow.

"Come again?"

Roy sighed and squirmed uncomfortably. "I don't like the thought of you stuck out here, in this weather." Stormi's expression remained the same. Roy was silent for a second before adding, "um, and neither does dad…So, if you'll just get in the car…" When she didn't move Roy exhaled tiredly. "Don't make me drag you there, because I will."

"Don't even think about it."

"Too late." Suddenly smirking again, Roy leant forward and hoisted her onto his shoulder, evoking a shrill shriek of "Put me down this MINUTE Harper!"

"Your own fault," was his reply as he dumped her in the back seat of the car. The traffic lights had already gone green, and Harry had moved the car to the curb so vehicles behind him could pass.

"Okay then," Harry said, twisting around in his seat to look at Stormi, who wasn't looking best pleased. "Where to?"

Stormi looked between Harry and his son, still half on her back from being unceremoniously dumped. She mumbled her address and clicked her seat belt into place as the car began moving.

It was quite an awkward ride; Stormi refused to talk to Roy who, in turn, was reluctant to make conversation with either her or his father. Harry was trying his best to keep some chatter going by asking about school, but gave up when he realised he wasn't going to get any answers longer than a couple of words out of either of them. When they arrived at Stormi's house, Caroline was already outside waiting for her.

Stormi muttered something under her breath as she grabbed her bag and slipped out of the car. She turned and quietly thanked Harry for the lift before walking up the drive to her mother. Caroline waited until the red car was out of sight before pulling her daughter into the house and rounding on her.

"Where have you been? You should have been home hours ago!"

"I got detention."

"Detention? What for? If this was about talking back to teachers-"

"It wasn't."

"Don't interrupt! Who was that who dropped you off? You did know them, right? God forbid my daughter getting into cars with strangers."

Stormi's brain switched off around then, staring pointedly at curtains to her left so as to avoid looking into her mother's stern face.

"Why are you all wet? Don't tell me you've been out in this weather the entire time. Honestly, Stormi. Are you trying to catch something? Go up to your bedroom and get changed and then – no. You can stay in your bedroom because you're grounded."

"Huh? What for?" Stormi demanded, head whipping around to stare – open mouthed – at Caroline. "For getting detention because Roy–freaking–Harper is an arrogant, selfish prat? Or for getting stuck in the rain because I didn't have a way home? Or is it for not telling you because you never answer your mobile?"

"Stormi Patricia Rosewood. Go to your room this instant and do not come down. You will not be having dinner tonight, and that is purely because of your disrespectful and rude behaviour towards your mother."

Stormi didn't waste another second. She grabbed her bag from where she'd dropped it, kicked off her shoes, stomped up the staircase and into her bedroom where she threw herself down on her bed with a dramatic growl of frustration.

* * *

_**Love Man's Log**_

_Tuesday October 31st_

_Fliers and posters have been distributed. News should soon spread about The Love Man. It has begun. _

_Note to self – don't interfere with Jizelle's love life again._

* * *

**WOO**

**CREDIT FOR LOVE-MAN GOES TOOOOOOOOO –badababa- MA SISTER! **

**Danke schwester… und du bist eine Affe, und ich nicht. **

**(probably spelt that wrong...whoops...)**

**Review please, those who have remained loyal (if there are any left *tear*)**


	11. Chapter 10: The Roy Wonder

**Ugh, this chapter was a pain to write. Kept going wrong :L And I know it's taken FAR too long to get this done, I had bits of it written up for AGES. I just needed a kick up the bum to get the rest of it down in English (and Tamaranean…*sinister chuckle*) Of course, by the time this kick in the backside…well, kicked in (oh, I kill myself…) I had hit exam season and I was stressing out and stuff…**

**BUT NOW IT IS ALL OVER! MWAHAHAHA! I NOW HAVE NO EXCUSES NOT TO WRITE FANFICTION APART FROM THE FACT I'M A LAZY BUTTHEAD. **

**Enjoy…**

**Disclaimer: Siiigh…I still don't own Teen Titans. You'd've thought people would have figured this out for themselves… **

**ALSO. SPECIAL CREDIT TO SISTER DEAREST WHO GAVE ME IDEAS FOR THIS CHAPTER. And for several other chapters and stories…probably…I forget. :L**

**On with the show!**

* * *

**FRIDAY**

**November 1****st**

Rachel was awake at seven o'clock sharp. For a minute she lay back in her bed and reflected on the dream her alarm clock had interrupted – an odd one in which she had talked to various copies of herself, all of whom had a different, over-exaggerated personality trait. She shook her head and sat up, running a hand through her thin, violet hair and rubbing the grey skin of her face in attempt to make herself feel more awake. After washing, and brushing out the knots in her hair, she threw open her wardrobe to select her outfit.

Only to find it was devoid of her usual black, blue and purple clothes. "…Great," she muttered, shoving empty hangers out of the way, hunting around for clothes. All she could find…was white. With distaste she pulled out a short, lacy dress and regarded it with disgust. "No way."

"Are you alright, Rachel?"

Rachel turned around to see her mother, Arella, in the doorway, smiling softly. "Mother, where are my clothes?"

"Don't you mean my clothes?"

"I mean the clothes you used to wear…but gave to me," Rachel clarified bluntly. Arella chuckled quietly.

"I know what you mean. I went through them yesterday when you were at school; a lot of them are very old and were getting quite frayed…So I thought we could go and buy new clothes over the weekend? You're going on a school trip soon, why not have a new wardrobe in time for it?"

Rachel wasn't impressed. "What am I supposed to wear?"

"What's wrong with what you're holding?" Arella asked. "I left what was still wearable."

"It's all white. I don't wear white."

Arella sighed. "Rachel, please…"

"Fine."

Shooing her mother out of her room, Rachel threw on the white dress, along with whatever she could find her drawers which were black; black tights, black jacket, black belt, black shoes.

It would have to do. Rachel made her way downstairs to the kitchen-come-diner to find a mug of steaming tea waiting for her on the table, which she began to sip whilst moving around, getting her things ready for school.

At 7.45 she swung her bag on her shoulder and headed into the hallway. After announcing her departure to her mother, Rachel shut the front door behind her and began walking down the road. It was a small house, painted brilliant white. She and Arella lived alone; Rachel had never met her father. Tristan Roth and Arella had had a long-distance relationship, only seeing each other briefly every other month. When Arella found out she was pregnant, she begged Tristan to get a more local job so he could have a more active part in their child's life. He did the opposite, and hadn't returned since. It was a long, forty minute walk to school; she lived in a small, remote house away from the city, and nowhere near any bus stops. She didn't mind the walk; it was quiet for the most part, allowing her time to relax and think.

Rachel arrived at 8.27, just as the buses rolled in front of the school. Road works in the town meant they had come a little late, and so as soon as the doors were opened students came pouring out, rushing off to their lockers before form started.

That was as exciting as the first half of the day got. Lessons were disappointingly dull; they were given homework, they gave in homework, someone was yelled out for failing to do the latter. Until lunchtime came around…

* * *

**Lunchtime**

Vic was making his way down the corridor, talking with Kori and Rachel about the Geography lesson they had just endured. More specifically: their homework.

"I can't believe we have to complete that worksheet for Tuesday!" Vic exclaimed, frowning. "It's got to be at least three hours of nonstop work, plus we have that science paper due Monday."

"Indeed. The time for revision has truly come upon us," Kori said solemnly. As they walked down they bumped into Gar who was running in the opposite direction.

"Hey guys, bye guys!" he called over his shoulder as he ran, a determined and excited look on his face.

"Uhh…hey?" Vic said unsurely. "Where's he going?"

"I don't know, and I probably don't want to know," Rachel bluntly commented.

Gar ran into room 99, relieved to find it empty, and shut the door firmly behind him. Grabbing a plastic bag from his backpack, he took out a long, black cloak, a black mask, a black hat and black gloves and slipped them on over his clothes. Then, Gar turned off the lights, closed the blinds and stashed his bag behind a desk, out of sight, after extracting his lunch. He then proceeded to seat himself and dig in to his cucumber and Quorn sandwich.

Roy slowly opened the door to room 99 and peered inside. It was dark, the light hadn't been turned on, and it seemed at first that the room was empty. Clearing his throat, Roy quietly called, "Hello?"

"Yes…?" a voice replied from the shadows. There was a rustle and slight movement from the back of the room. Roy stepped further into the gloom and shut the door behind him.

"Are you…The Love-Man?"

"There are those who call me that…" Suddenly, the blinds in front of one of the windows were released, revealing a figure in the centre of the room. Pale light flooded in, cutting across the figure's head. Roy could see that The Love-Man was short and skinny with a black mask obscuring his face. Green eyes glittered, watching him carefully.

"I…found your advert…" Roy said unsurely, holding up the small, scuffed piece of paper.

Behind his mask, The Love-Man smiled. "I see. How would you like me to help?"

"Well, I just thought it'd be fun- uh, great to see my friend get with this girl. And you said you did match making…"

"Indeed. Who is your friend and who is the girl?"

"Richard…Richard Grayson? And Kori…don't know her surname; the chick with the crazy eyes."

Gar nearly burst out laughing but quickly composed himself. This was brilliant; somebody else finally agreed with him. "Ah, yes. A fine couple they would make…"

"So, you'll help?"

"Yes, Roy Harper." A smile spread across his face behind his mask. "I will."

* * *

_Love-Man's Log  
__Friday November 1__st__.  
__I have been employed by Roy Harper to get Richard and Kori together.  
__Let the fun begin._

* * *

_Love-Man's Log  
__Saturday November 2__nd__.  
__Matchmaking plans are hard. Where will I get that many paperclips?  
__Maybe video games will help me.  
__It's Goo Zombies time._

* * *

_Love-Man's Log  
__Sunday November 3__rd__.  
__I have three plans.  
__Operation W.A.T.E.R. [Wet Awakening of Target's Eventual Romance]  
__Operation P.A.R.K. [Puppy Attaches Richard and Kori]  
__Operation N.O.T.E. [Now Observing Tamaranean Exchanges]_

* * *

**MONDAY**

**November 4****th**

At lunchtime the following Monday, Roy made his way to room 99 again. As before, it was dark and the blinds were drawn, and Love-Man was waiting inside, munching on a sandwich. "Ah, you have returned, Harper. I have been thinking…"

"You've got a plan?" Roy asked.

Love-Man nodded and grinned. "I have a plan."

"What is it?" Roy prompted, folding his arms.

"We're going to go for something a bit…old school," the Love-Man replied. "Using some water, a bucket and a door."

"I like it so far," Roy commented.

The cloaked boy's grin widened. "Good. Then you'll love the rest of it. We are going to fill the bucket with water and position it above the door of a class they both have. You'll tell Richard that there's water above the door, just as Kori is about to open it. He'll dash in and push her out of the way. Then they'll realise their true, passionate feelings for each other ad Bob's your Uncle."

"You sure this'll work?"

"Yeah; I saw it in some film once - it'll work."

* * *

**Later…**

Period five had just finished. Joseph and Isaiah managed to fight their way through the outpour of students from the drama studio. They were on their way to their French and German classes respectively when a large, imposing figure stepped out in front of them and stared down at Joseph.

"Ahh…Mr. Wilson… Would you mind stepping into my office for a while…" Slade said, a wide, slightly sinister smile stretching across his face. Joseph paled and glanced at Isaiah for moral support. His friend swallowed, bit his lip, pulled a strange face and motioned for him to go with their head teacher. Taking a breath, Joseph nodded his goodbye to Isaiah – who continued on his way to lesson, throwing worried looks over his shoulder – and followed Slade to his office.

"Take a seat, Joseph," Slade said, motioning a chair. Joseph sat himself down and chewed nervously on his bottom lip, and shook his head when Slade offered him a boiled sweet from a clay bowl. Smirk again tugging at his lips, the principal took an orange sweet, peeled off the clear plastic wrapper and popped the shiny treat into his mouth. "Don't worry, Joseph," he said, the candy clicking against his teeth. "You're not in trouble."

Joseph swallowed thickly and waited for Slade to speak again. His fingers began to twitch so he quickly removed his hands from the desk and fidgeted on his lap. Glancing back up at Slade, he nearly fell out of his seat when he saw the principal was staring intently at him with his uncovered eye; the only movement was from the muscles in his cheeks and mouth, as he rolled the sweet around his tongue.

"How have you been, Joseph?" he asked. The boy looked around for a piece of paper and pencil to write his response on, but Slade added, "There'll be no need to write it down, I understand sign language."

Joseph nodded and began to slowly sign. _'I'm good, thank you.' _

"Good. And what have you been up to? Did you like the song book?"

'_It was very…_' Joseph froze as he tried to think of a word. _'…Nice…How did you know I played?'_

Slade chuckled. "I saw you walking with your guitar…and your music teacher was quick to sing your praises when I asked." He leant back in his chair, but continued to stare. "She said you were very talented indeed, and I am inclined to agree. You have a guitarist's hands."

Joseph looked down at his fingers, which had been wringing the hem of his white t shirt, and raised them to sign, _'Thank you'_

"It's a shame that you can't accompany your playing with a voice…but never mind." He noticed how Slade's gaze slipped down to the neckerchief around his throat for a second before settling back on his face. "I understand you live with foster parents. Are you…happy with this arrangement?"

Joseph nodded. He briefly considered expanding on the subject but he decided against it. Luckily for him, Slade's phone began to ring. He sighed in frustration but forced a smile on to his face. "You may go."

Joseph didn't need telling twice. He quickly leapt from his seat and exited the office.

* * *

_Love-Man's Log  
__Monday November 4__th__.  
__Tomorrow we will unleash operation W.A.T.E.R. before period one.  
__Sadly I won't be there because I don't do French.  
__Roy will be in my place and look over things._

* * *

**TUESDAY**

**November 5****th**

Form had ended. It was the beginning of first period and everything was ready. The bucket had been filled with water and positioned above the door. Roy was standing with Richard outside the French classroom. Kori was a foot away from them, at the door and waiting to go in.

It was all too perfect.

Roy took a deep breath. The execution of their plan required perfect precision and timing. Love-Man wasn't there…it was all down to him. It had to be perfect. He had to be quick; he had to be…_Speedy_.

It was time. Kori moved towards the door. She was in front and the only one in danger of getting wet.

"Hey, Rich," Roy said quietly. "Apparently there's a bucket of water on the door and it's gonna fall off and soak the first person to open it."

However, whilst Roy was talking, Kori had stopped walking; her fingers inches from the door handle, and stepped to the side to turn off her phone which had started ringing. Richard, who hadn't been listening to Roy at all, carried on, opened the door and…

CRASH

SPLASH

"The HELL!?"

"Sorry Rich," Roy later apologised at break. "I tried to warn you." Richard said nothing and instead just glared at him. "Aw, come on Richie…" But he couldn't keep a straight face and joined Wally and Garth in their sniggering. Richard's hair, usually spiked up with gel, was hanging around his cheeks in frizzy rat tails.

"Y-Y-You…" Wally snorted. "You l-look lik-ke a g-g-g-GIRL! AHAHAHAHA!" Then he rested his face on the table and laughed mercilessly into the laminated plastic. Richard couldn't do anything but glare and pout. His hair would be wet for a while yet; he didn't have access to a hairdryer and he wasn't allowed to home just to dry his soggy locks. Fortunately he had been able to change into dry clothes; Roy kept a spare pair of jeans in his locker and Garth was rarely without a spare shirt, which they gladly leant to him, still chuckling at his misfortune.

* * *

**Period 3**

Since doing the project together, Karen had taken to sitting with Vic and his friends during Geography lessons. At first, things had been rather awkward. Karen found Kori's enthusiasm annoying and she was slightly intimidated by Rachel's cold attitude. Eventually, however, they got used to each other, to the point that they felt comfortable seeing each other as friends.

"Hey guys," Karen greeted, grabbing an empty chair at their table and sitting down. Mr. Mod was dawdling at the front of the classroom, most likely searching for his lesson plan or register.

Rachel gave her a nod in reply. Kori grinned widely and cried, "Greetings, Karen!" in an overly-cheerful voice.

"Hey," Vic said, turning in his chair before observing, "Cutting it a little fine, aren't you?"

"Yeah. What can I say? I'm friends with a paranoid freak." She shrugged nonchalantly and sighed. "Ever since last Thursday, Stormi acts like Roy would kill her if he so much as sees her."

"What happened, anyway?" Rachel asked with slight interest. Karen shrugged again.

"I don't know, she won't tell me. Changes the subject whenever I bring it up. All I know is that Roy got her in detention and that he's a…'big-headed, odious prick in dire need of a hairdresser'…and if she had her way, a mortician."

Kori looked horrified at this. "Surely she does not truly mean this?"

"Yeah, she does," Karen replied, deadly serious. "Anyway, she's started leaving for lessons after break and lunch late to avoid him and his group, and so I get stuck behind as well."

It was then that Mr. Mod decided to start the lesson, interrupting the gentle chatter of the class with his usual greeting of "Alright, my duckies!" He proceeded to spend the next hour talking at them about rock formations on the coast. By the time he had finished, and made sure his students had taken sufficient notes, they were sick and tired of his slightly forced cockney accent and his terrible jokes.

"I swear, if he had taken one more dig at my surname," Vic growled, who had spent the lesson being bombarded with Mod's puns about 'Stone'.

"At least Gar wasn't here to pick up on any of them," Rachel commented bluntly as they left the classroom and made their way up to history.

Vic considered this with a look of horror – no doubt proceeding from his thoughts on what life would be like from then on had Gar been there. "That's a good point," he finally said. "If the grass stain had been there, I wouldn't hear the end of it."

"Grass stain?" Karen repeated with one eyebrow arched.

"Gar Logan," Rachel explained.

"Y'know, 'cause he's small, annoying, green…and no matter how hard you try, you can't get rid of him," Vic added. They had come to a stop outside their history classroom, but only had to wait for a few seconds before the teacher came to let them in. It was one of the few lessons in which they had a seating plan, so with a few smile and nods, the four split to go to their respective desks.

"See you later, Sparky," Karen said over her shoulder as she made her way to the back of the room.

"Sparky?" Vic repeated, frowning. "…Hey, it's because I'm half robot, isn't it?" he whined after her. If Karen had heard, she didn't respond, leaving Vic to sit in his seat and pout to himself.

* * *

_Love-Man's Log.  
__Tuesday November 5__th__.  
__First plan to get Richard and Kori together [Operation W.A.T.E.R.] failed.  
__I will try again tomorrow with operation P.A.R.K.  
__Richard looks like a girl with his hair down._

* * *

**WEDNESDAY**

**November 6****th**

**Lunch**

Once again, Roy was in room 99 and, once again, Love-Man was dressed in black, sitting on top of a desk, eating.

"Operation W.A.T.E.R. didn't work," was the first thing Roy said. "Don't get me wrong, it was hilarious! But-"

"Don't worry, Mr. Harper…" Love-Man's voice stopped him mid-sentence. "I have another plan in store. Richard has a dog, yes?"

"Yeah. A little black one called Larry."

"Let's take a leaf out of Disney's book. I'll make sure there are dog treats or something Larry will like in Kori's bag…I'll also make sure she is in the Park on the corner of Spring Avenue at four-thirty. If you can get Richard to walk Larry in that park around then…it'll be like 101 Dalmatians…"

"I like that plan," Roy said with a nod.

Ten minutes later, after Roy had left and Gar had stowed his Love-Man clothes back in his locker, the green boy was sitting with his friends outside, grinning widely. "So guys, any of you fancy going to the park on Spring Avenue after school?"

"Sure, I'm game," Vic replied.

Kori clapped her hands together and gave them a bright smile. "What a splendid idea! I shall partake in this merry making after school!"

"Sorry Gar." Toni brushed a crimson lock of hair from her face. "I have to get home straight away to help me folks with something."

Jizelle, Kole and Gabby also declined the offer for various reasons, so Gar's imploring eyes turned to Rachel. "Wha'd'ya say, Rae? Wanna go to the park with us?"

"It's _Rachel_. And I think not."

"Aw, come on!" Gar pouted. "Please!"

"Yeah, come on Rae! You could do with an afternoon in the sun!" Vic chipped in, flushing when Rachel turned to him with a steely look in her violet eyes. "Uh, not that there's anything wrong with being…grey…"

Rachel drew out the silence for a few seconds before expelling a long, laboured sigh and saying, "Fine. I'll go the park. For an hour, no more."

Gar smirked to himself. _Phase one, complete._

After school, instead of getting the bus, Kori, Vic and Gar met up with Rachel and Gabby by the school gates. They decided to walk to the park as it was only twenty minutes away from the school building. Ten minutes into the journey, Gabby waved goodbye and went a different way to her younger brother's school, leaving the four to make their way to Spring Avenue.

Meanwhile, Roy had invited himself around to Richard's house afterschool that day, and after fifteen minutes of lounging around, eating sugary snacks Alfred had dug out of the cupboard for them, he began his part of the Operation.

"Hey, why don't we walk the dog?" Roy suggested. Richard, who had been walking across the room, froze. Slowly, his head twisted around to stare at his friend incredulously.

"You…want to walk the dog?"

"Yeah, I want to walk the dog."

"Okay…" Slowly, suspiciously, Richard stalked over to the door, opened it and yelled, "ALFRED!" into the hallway. Within seconds, the silver-haired butler appeared with a wry smile.

"How can I help, Master Richard?"

"We're taking Larry for a walk. Could you go and fetch him…and his leash."

"As you wish, Master Richard. I shall bring all necessary equipment to the hall."

"Thanks Alfred." The butler gave a small bow and left. Richard turned back to Roy, still looking suspicious, and motioned for him to get up. "Okay, we'll walk the dog."

The two boys made their way down to the hall and five minutes later, Alfred appeared with the small black dog on a leash, which he handed to Richard. He also held a tennis ball thrower (with a neon green ball, waiting in its holder), a few plastic bags and a small tub of treats, all of which he gave to Roy.

Patting his free hand to his pocket to check his keys and phone were there, Richard opened the front door and left the manor. They walked in silence down the drive way, and this silence continued with their seven-minute journey from the front gate to the Spring Avenue. It was then that Richard turned to Roy and gave him a strange look. "Seriously, you want to walk the dog?"

"Yeah," Roy replied. "Why not?"

Richard stared at him like he'd grown a second head. "Because you never want to walk the dog when Alfred suggests it!"

"Yeah…well…I do today?" Roy tried as they entered the park. The soft, green grass and thick-trunked trees were a welcome change from the cemented world of the grey city. A gravel path ran through the park, twisting and turning with the terrain, encircling a small lake with a few benches either side. Nearby, on the other side of a large expanse of flat field, Gar was standing with Rachel, Vic and Kori, playing a ball game, their school bags and coats piled up on the bench behind them. Whilst his friend were distracted, Gar had slipped a handful of particularly pungent dog treats in to Kori's jacket pocket and was hoping Larry would smell them when he got near.

A chilly wind blew to Gar's delight, prompting Kori to retreat to the bench to slip her jacket on. She paused when she picked it up and took a deep breath through her nose; but if she smelt anything out of the ordinary she took no notice of it. Through the trees opposite him, Gar saw a flash of red, signalling that Roy and Richard had finally entered the park.

Fortunately, Kori decided to stand opposite him in the circle formed as they got ready to start a new game of catch. As soon as Gar was in possession of the tennis ball they were using, he threw it to Kori, but 'accidentally' threw it too hard, causing it to fly over her head, near where Roy and Richard (and Larry) were. "Oops! Sorry Kori!" he yelled somewhat woodenly.

"It is quite the alright!" she chirped, turning to run after the ball.

Roy and Richard, meanwhile, were sitting on a bench, chucking a tennis ball as far as they could for Larry to fetch and bring back. "This is…fun…" Roy said unenthusiastically, lobbing the tennis ball again after extracting the slobbery neon ball from Larry's jaws.

"Your idea," Richard reproached as we watched the small dog charge towards the trees. "…What are you doing?"

"Hm?" He froze. The comb in his hand was half way down his fringe. "Oh, the wind was messing up my hair."

"…You are such a girl."

"Pch, says the guy who spends twenty minutes gelling his hair."

"Says the guy who spends half an hour _brushing_ it."

"Touché…"

Whilst they were talking, the two tennis balls; one thrown by Roy and the other by Gar, had landed next to each other on the grass. As Kori bent down to pick up the cleaner and dryer of the two she noticed the ball of black fur and her face broke out into a smile. "Hello again!" she said, recognising the dog with delight. She reached down to pet his head and scratch behind his ears, but Larry was began jumping up and pawing at her thighs, trying to get to her jacket pockets. So determined was Larry that he caused Kori to slip up and fall back on to the grass. She began giggling, lightly pushing his furry snout away from her waist.

Hearing the loud giggling and noticing Larry absence, Roy looked over at her and smirked. "Uh, Richie? Might want to control your dog?"

"Huh?" Roy pointed at where Larry was climbing over Kori and Richard leapt to his feet. "What the-? Larry!"

"Better go stop him, dude," Roy began saying, but Richard was already marching over to the pair.

Kori was still giggling away when Richard appeared above her. She didn't spot him at first as she had her eyes squeezed shut in mirth. "Larry, stop!" Richard yelped, leaning down to grab the dog around the middle. But Larry wasn't about to go down – or up – without a fight and struggled restlessly in his arms. "Come…on! What's gotten…into you?"

As soon as the animal had been lifted from her stomach, Kori sat up and smiled at Richard. "Thank you."

"Sorry about this," Richard apologised, managing to secure the dog under one arm and using the other to lend Kori a hand. "I don't know what's gotten in to him. You alright?"

"I am quite unhurt!" Kori chirped, allowing Richard to help her to her feet. "Thank you."

"Uhh, good! Good…I mean, you're welcome." Larry had stopped struggling, so Richard decided it was safe to let him go again. The dog walked cautiously forward and began sniffing around Kori's legs, but didn't jump up again. "It seems my training hasn't had much of an effect on him."

"He appears to be the behaving now," Kori said brightly, patting Larry's head affectionately.

"Yeah." A smile – a genuine smile – slowly grew on Richard's face. The orange, afternoon sun shed a softly coloured light on the world. It made her hair glow brighter than fire, and her eyes glitter like emeralds. And suddenly he forgot about the social stigma attached to her and her friends, he couldn't think why his fellow students had labelled her as an outcast. Her naivety wasn't strange, it was refreshing. Her way of speaking wasn't weird, it was endearing. She wasn't odd, she was beautiful.

Unfortunately, Larry chose that moment to bark loudly and the spell was broken. Fighting off a sudden pink flush threatening to stain his face, Richard quickly said his goodbye and tried to walk as coolly as he could back to Roy. He missed the smile Kori flashed at his retreating back before she began making her way back to her friends.

During this exchange, Roy remained sprawled on the bench, smirking widely. He moved his head slightly to the side and caught a glimpse of Kori's friends, two of them standing behind Gar, who was holding them back.

"They're fine!" the green boy was saying, "let her have friends!"

"We're her friends," Vic argued, frowning.

"She can have other friends!" Gar protested.

"Or not," Rachel said. "She's coming back."

"Oh…" Gar's ears drooped and a childish pout grew on his face. "I mean…yay?"

"What happened, little lady?" Vic asked.

"Richard's dog was merely…showing affection?" she explained, though it came out sounding like a question. "Now perhaps we may resume our game?"

"Sounds like a plan! Come on Rachel, join in this time!" Vic grinned. The three fell back into a simple catching game. None of them noticed Gar linger to stare at the bench Richard and Roy were at, and none of them heard him mutter, "Maybe next time, Love-Man, maybe next time…"

Later, when they were tired of playing games, the four friends stopped to rest on a park bench. It was then that Kori put her hands in her pockets, discovered the dog treats and pulled them out to show her friends.

"How did these come to be in my pockets?" she asked, holding them out. Immediately Rachel and Vic looked at Gar, who was whistling innocently.

"…What?"

"You didn't have anything to do with this, did you?" Rachel asked suspiciously.

"Why me?"

"Because you're the only one of us who has a dog," Vic said.

"Why would I put dog treats in her pocket? It might have been…um…someone else?"

Exchanging unimpressed looks, Vic and Rachel shook their heads but said nothing more on the matter. When quarter past five rolled by, Kori announced that she needed to head home, to which Vic readily agreed. At the gates, the group split in two; with Kori and Vic going one way and Gar and Rachel the other. The walk for the latter two began with a very awkward silence. A few times Gar opened his mouth to say something, but decided against it at the last minute. He stuffed his hands in his pocket and sighed quietly then noticed a look of deep concentration of Rachel's face.

"Something up?" he asked, shaking her from her thoughts. Rachel turned her head to look at him for a few seconds before facing forward again.

"It's Kori," she finally said. "I think something's going on."

"Like what?"

"I don't know. But the fact she had dog food in her pockets, she was in the park, Richard was in the park with his dog…" Suddenly, she snapped her head sharply around to stare him down. "Are you sure you had nothing to do with this?"

"Yes!" Gar squeaked in surprise. "Uhh, I mean yeah, I'm as baffled as you."

For a few seconds more Rachel continued to glare at him suspiciously but seemed to accept his answer for now. Gar was almost relieved when they reached the end of the road and she split off to go a different way.

As soon as he got home, he raced up to his bedroom, chucked his things on the floor and grabbed his journal from under his pillow.

_Love-Man's Log  
__Wednesday November 6__th__.  
__Operation P.A.R.K. failed.  
__Rachel knows._

* * *

**THURSDAY**

**November 7****th**

It was break the next day when Rachel brought it up again. Kori had just excused herself to the girl's bathroom when she spoke up. "I think something's going on, and that it involves Kori," she said. Gar shrunk in his seat whilst Vic gave a small nod.

"What makes you say that?" Jizelle asked. Rachel proceeded to describe all that had happened at the park the afternoon before with Vic chipping in occasionally. When she had finished, there was a pregnant silence in which the group of friends watched Rachel carefully (though Jizelle's eyes kept flickering over to Gar who was doing his best to look innocent).

"Weird…" Kole murmured. "How do you suppose the dog treats got in her pockets?"

"I don't think it's anything to worry about! I mean, it's probably just some crazy coincidence!" Gar yelped, leaping up in his seat and trying to grin convincingly. "Besides, what do you think whoever would…be trying to…do if this was some…plan?"

Another silence followed. Kole, Toni and Gabby didn't look too bothered about the entire ordeal, but Jizelle and Rachel had their eyes trained on Gar and even Vic was looking slightly troubled. When Kori returned, bright and smiling, they didn't bring up the subject.

It was nearing the end of Period four on Thursday when Wally, Roy and Richard's technology teacher, tired of watching the class sketch out designs for their woodwork project, decided to take a seat at the front of the class and pull out a book.

Rachel, sitting at a desk near the front of the class, noticed and smiled faintly in recognition. The teacher caught the brief smile and said, "You've read 'Rookwood?'"

"Reading it," Rachel replied.

"Where are you up to?"

"Turpin has just arrived at the manner."

"Dick Turpin," the teacher grinned slightly; a rare sight on the usually stoic and stern teacher (who apparently had a soft spot for Victorian Literature).

Wally, it seemed, had been half listening and sniggered into his hand. "Tchh…Dick…"

The teacher's head snapped to stare at him. "Something amuses you, Wallace?"

"N-no…"

"Good." The teacher cleared his throat. "Dick Turpin was a highway man of the 18th century. He is a famous figure of English history and has a fascinating story."

Wally listened whilst trying to fight off a smirk and next to him Roy was pulling a similar facial expression. When class finally ended and the students had been dismissed, the two redheads were the first to leave. As soon as they had stepped out of the door, they burst out laughing and continued to laugh all the way to the cafeteria with Richard jogging to catch up with them.

Garth looked up with a smile which turned into a confused look as his friends joined him at their table. "Dick…" Wally chocked out as explanation before he and Roy dissolved into fresh giggles.

"What?" Garth arched an eyebrow.

"Dick Turpin…His name's Dick T-T-T-Turnpin…"

"Turnpin?" Roy repeated through his chortles.

"Turnip?"

"PfftHAHAhahaha!"

Garth and Richard exchanged glances and sighed simultaneously. "It's not that funny," Richard said with a frown.

"Dick is a name," Garth told them and without thinking added, "It's short for Richard."

Wally and Roy stopped abruptly and turned to stare at Richard, smirks fighting their way onto their faces. Then Wally made a rather uncouth snorting noise and both began laughing again.

"Y-Y-You're a Dick…" Roy sniggered. Richard scowled and turned his head to glare at Garth.

"You just had to say that, didn't you?"

* * *

**Sixth period**

It was last lesson: P.E. and Kori was sitting on a bench next to Rachel at the side of the sports hall, redoing a lace on her bright purple trainers. In front of them, the rest of their class were doing various stretches and warm ups in preparation for the hour of circuit training that lay ahead of them.

"I hate circuit training," Gar mumbled, sloping over to sit next to them. The teacher had stepped out for five minutes to talk to someone, and the majority of the class had taken this as an excuse to stop warming up.

"Yeah, I kinda got that after first time you said it."

In front of them, Richard and Roy were amongst the few still doing anything P.E. related. They were on the floor, doing press ups, whilst Wally and Garth stood next to them, spurring them on.

"Go on! Five more! Do you suppose you could do them with me on your back?" Wally was asking.

"I'd…rather…not…try…" Roy grunted between press ups. Eventually, his arms gave out and he collapsed on his face. "Ow. How many did I do?"

"Huh? Was I meant to be counting?"

"…Wally, you're an idiot. Richie, I'm drinking your water, you mind?"

Richard grunted in reply. Roy took this as permission and grabbed the red bottle that sat a foot away. He unscrewed the cap and began chugging it down as if his life depended on it. When Richard finally stopped showing off and requested his bottle from Roy, he was horrified to find it empty. "You drank all of it! How did you manage that?"

"I was thirsty?"

"Ugh…Wally? Garth?"

"Sorry man, bottle's empty," Wally said.

"In the changing room." Garth shrugged bashfully.

"You guys are so unprepared…" Richard muttered, shaking his head.

Fortunately for him, Kori had heard his predicament and, being the kindly soul she was, held up her own water bottle and called, "Richard, I have plentiful water if you require some!"

Richard looked up sharply and smiled gratefully. He didn't care where the water came from; he just needed something cool and liquid. So, ignoring the kissy faces Wally and Roy were pulling at him, he slumped over to Kori and accepted the water appreciatively. Rachel and Gar watched on with surprise (and delight, in the latter's case.) When he had drunk half of it, he handed the bottle back and grinned. "Thank you."

"It is quite the alright!" Kori smiled. "Oh, I have also discovered the reason as to why Larry was so..." she paused as if struggling for the word. "Enthusiastic? It had turned outward that in my pocket was concealed dog confectionary!" Richard chuckled.

"That solves that mystery," he observed. "How did those dog treats wind up in your pocket?"

"I am afraid I have not yet found that out."

"Oh, well, no worries." With a last grin, Richard nodded to Kori and her two friends before returning to his own.

"…What was that all about?" Toni asked, walking over in time to see Richard leave them.

"I have no idea…" Gar said, his turned back hiding his smirk.

* * *

_Love-Man's Log  
__Thursday November 7__th__.  
__Things are going well. Operation N.O.T.E. tomorrow. I've borrowed a Tamaranean/English dictionary from Kori.  
__In Tamaranean her Kori means Star, and Anders means Fire. Star Fire.  
__We'll have to be careful.  
__Rachel doesn't know. She suspects. I can't let her find out my secret identity. I must protect it with my life._

* * *

**FRIDAY**

**November 8****th**

During form, every class was given the same message concerning the upcoming school trip. They were going to a large forest for a couple of days where they would be split in to teams. There, the teams would have to learn how to work and live together for the weekend.

"Right, as you know the school trip is next week," each teacher said (or at least a derivation of this) "I have some notices for you; a reminder of what you need to bring, et cetera, et cetera. As we're only going for two days, you'll only need one set of extra clothes, and something to wear at night. We advise you bring jackets or something warm in case it's cold. You are allowed to bring snacks if you so wish, but littering will not be tolerated. Whilst there, you will be representing Jump City High, so we implore you to give the staff working there a good impression of our school."

The coach trip, they were told, would take anywhere between one and two hours (depending on the traffic). Many students groaned when the teachers announced they would have to arrive at school on Monday at seven o'clock sharp to get to the campsite on time, and so it was advised to either eat breakfast early or bring something for the bus ride. "But no throwing up, please," a stern Mr. Sei said to his form. "I've been on bucket duty before in coaches…it's not fun."

At break, Roy returned for the third time that week to room 99 and, as always, there was Love-Man, holding his notebook, green eyes sparkling mischievously from behind his mask.

"I have another plan. And this one can't fail. On this piece of paper I have written a small speech in Tamaranean for Richard, declaring his love for Kori. If we can get him to read it out in front of her, then they'll both realise their feelings for each other and boom!"

Love-Man offered Roy a piece of paper, which he took eagerly with a grin. "Sounds like a plan. I'll get Richie to read it at lunch. Can you make sure Kori is nearby?"

"It would be my pleasure…"

It was lunch and Gar had just fought his way out of his History classroom, ready to put Operation N.O.T.E. into action. Jizelle, almost walking into him, frowned and gave him a sharp shove. "What are you doing, Gar?"

"Hm? Oh…nothing…" he said after recovering himself from his Jizelle-induced stumble. Then, without explanation, he shot off down the corridor, in the opposite direction of the cafeteria. Jizelle watched him go with eyes narrowed, but decided it wasn't worth pursuing and followed after the rest of her friends.

Gar, meanwhile, had pushed his way through the crowded corridor to where he had spotted Kori, Rachel and Vic exiting their Geography classroom. "Kori!" he cried happily.

"Gar!" Kori replied in a similar tone.

"…Uhh…hello?" Vic frowned. "Do Rachel and I not exist or something?"

"Oh, hey guys. Anyway, Kori! I need some help with my English homework!"

"I shall gladly aid you however I am able!" Kori said, smiling.

"Great!" Gar grinned. "We'll catch up with you guys later."

Meanwhile, Roy was sitting at his usual table with Garth, waiting for Richard and Wally to arrive. In his hand he was clutching the Tamaranean love note. He had glanced through it briefly but couldn't pronounce any of it, and couldn't wait to see how Richard faired with it.

"What are you holding?" Garth suddenly asked.

"Paper," Roy replied, a tad unhelpfully.

He rolled his eyes. "I got that much."

"Why'd you ask then?"

Repressing a sigh, Garth merely shook his head and took a bite of…whatever the cafeteria was serving that day. A minute later, Richard and Wally arrived with trays of food. _Perfect_, Roy thought to himself, smirking slightly, _now we just need Kori to arrive…_

As soon as he thought that, the very girl walked around the corner with her shorter, green friend. What was his name, Gar?

"Uh, oh darn!" Gar suddenly cried melodramatically. "I left my…uh…calculator in my history classroom! Wait here whilst I go and get it?" Kori barely had time to nod when Gar ran off, doing all he could to stop himself laughing evilly. Everything was going perfectly.

Seeing his chance, Roy raised his piece of paper and turned to Richard sitting next to him. "Hey, Richie. I…found this in…my locker but I can't make it out. You mind reading it out for me?"

"Maybe you'd be able to read it if you took off your shades?" Garth suggested wryly.

Roy glared at him – though it was hard to tell behind his sunglasses – but Richard took the paper nonetheless and squinted as he tried to read it. "Uhhh…_Koriand'r_…What the heck is Koriand'r?"

"Louder, please," Roy requested, inconspicuously glancing at Kori out of the corner of his eyes.

Richard gave him a funny look but, not in the mood for arguing, complied. _"Sechak'tei sralean'h rob'sa kh'nhom anaak'h daunch'k phleung k'hlong brat'se Australikh. Sechak'tei ttuolorn'k rob'sa kh'nhom phyll bah'peol de k'hlong Gram'blar Hulk ku meandauch'neh kar ban th'veu meandauch'neh. Ak'noy arck'nor moun pelh dehl keat sralean'h mhaen bor'sa m'neakh ang'kokhear kh'nhom daer louy ke ak'noy anak brab'reasa."_

All the while, Roy was surreptitiously watching Kori, and was delighted to see how her face changed to one of confusion and delight. However, when she made no move to approach Richard, Gar reappeared from around the corner.

"Gar, you have retrieved your calculator?"

"Yep! So, what happened whilst I was gone? Anything…interesting?" he probed.

"Were you aware that Richard is able to speak the wondrous language of Tamaran?"

"No! Why? Did he? What did he say?" Gar asked, feigning ignorance.

"It was curious," she said thoughtfully. "He said…that he had deep feelings of love for pie…"

Richard noticed Kori and Gar standing near their table and, catching her guy, flashed Kori a grin which she happily returned. Feeling a burst of confidence from this gesture, she walked over to their table with Gar trailing behind.

"Richard!" she chimed. "I was unaware you were a speaker of Tamaranean!"

"Tama-whatian?" Richard asked, frowning in confusion.

"Tamaranean! The language of my home country!" Kori explained brightly.

"Oh, that was what this note was written in!" Chuckling slightly, he asked, "Do you know what it meant?"

"I believe you expressed your love of cooked pastries…"

"Well okay then…Roy, you wouldn't have anything to do with this, would you?" Richard turned to Roy accusingly, holding the note under his nose.

"Tch, no. I didn't write it. I just found it," he replied smoothly.

"Gar! I apologise! You were wanting aid with your English work! Let us go forth and work on it!" Waving goodbye to Richard and his friends, she grabbed Gar's arm and pulled him off in the direction of the library.

"She seems nice," Garth commented after a second of silence.

"Pretty, too," Wally added.

"Had an amazing-"

"Aaaand that's enough," Richard interrupted Roy before he could say something crude.

"So…" Wally said, "When's the wedding?"

"Wait, what!?"

"Can I be best man?" Roy asked.

"Hey, I'm best man!" Wally exclaimed.

"Guys!" Garth yelped. "It's up to Richard who gets to be his best man! Besides, we all know he'd pick me."

"In your dreams, Fish stick!" Roy cried.

Richard groaned in exasperation and put his head in his hands. _You talk to a girl for five seconds…_

"Richie, are you going out with her or something? I mean you could do so much better."

"Ew, she's, like, such a freak."

"Naw, he's not seriously going out with her. Probably just leading her on."

"Harsh…"

"Hey, if she honestly thought she had a chance then she deserves it."

These were the comments that followed Richard around for the remainder of the day. At first he just ignored them, but as they began flooding in thicker and faster, he could feel his patience wearing thin. Garth, at least, was being helpful; attempting to get people off his back about it. Roy and Wally, on the other hand, still found the idea hilarious and continued to tease him mercilessly about it.

It was afterschool. Richard, Roy, Wally and Garth were on their way to the buses when they were ambushed near the bike shed by Kitten and her posse.

"Richie-poo?" Kitten squealed, latching on to his arm. "Are you, like, going out with Kori or something? I mean, you could do so much better!"

"What?" Richard tried to prise her fingers off of his arm. "What are you talking about?"

"Kori. Kori Anders. Are you, like, going out with her? I mean, you've been, like, hanging out with her all week."

"No I haven't! What are you talking about?"

"So, like, apparently you were at the park and during P.E. yesterday and lunch today…" Kitten said. Behind her, Cindy, Daisy and Mandy were loudly voicing their disapproval.

"Ugh, like, ew."

"Like, totally."

"He is so not serious about, like, seeing her or whatever."

"No way. Maybe he's, like, playing with her or something."

"She, like, so deserves that."

"Like, totes."

"Hey girls, leave him alone. They're just friends," Garth said, trying to be heard over the shrill noises of the girls, but he was sadly ignored.

"What's wrong, Kitten? You jealous that he chose a decent person over you?" Roy teased whilst Wally snickered.

It was a combination of everything; Kitten's whining, her friends' bitching and his friends' teasing that finally caused Richard to snap.

"I don't like her already!" he cried, sharply tugging his arm away from Kitten and stepping back to glare at everyone. "She's not…I…nothing is going on or ever will."

"Don't you like her even as a-"

"NO!" Richard yelled. "Just no! I don't care! NO!"

Kitten began talking again then, as did Wally, Roy and the other girls. Garth stood there, stunned. Red and shaking, Richard stormed off to the buses with the arguing squabble following a few feet behind.

No one saw the redhead behind the bike shed, tears flowing freely down her face. She had heard the entire thing.

* * *

_Love-Man's Log  
__Friday November 8__th__.  
__Glad operation N.O.T.E. didn't work. Richard is a jerk and doesn't deserve Kori.  
__Maybe the field trip next week will help Kori get over his Jerk-ishness.  
__What a jerk._

* * *

**WOO! END OF!**

**For those who care, the Tamaranean love note was originally translated into…a language I can't remember the name of, and then was subject to my butchering and had a load of k's, h's and apostrophes thrown in. If you want the original letter in English, then here it is: **

**Koriand'r**

_**My love for you burns like a forest fire in Australia. My affections are so strong that they make the Incredible Hulk look like Spiderman before he became Spiderman. I beg you to return these feelings of love or they will consume me and I will die. **_

**Sorry if this chapter was a little…clunky. T'was a nightmare to write let me tell you! That's why it took so long to write, kept getting stuck, confused and lost in my own notes. You know, there was something like 25 separate bits to write for this. (Sure…8 of them were Love Man Logs but…pch) **

**YES THEN. RELATIONSHIP DEVELOPMENT AND ANGST. **

**Is this the end of Love Man? Will he be buried beneath Gar's bed, never to be heard from again? Or will he rise again, like Spiderman in that film…what was it called? Oh yeah, Spiderman! (The second one, I think) We'll see…**

**Don't worry, next chapter should be better. Finally they go on the camping trip. Ooooooh, that's gonna be fun! More awkward scenes between characters, more randomness, and a WHOLE lot more trees!**


End file.
